bill@persci.UUCP (08/06/85)
In article <13700006@orstcs.UUCP> richardt@orstcs.UUCP (richardt) writes: >Within the past few weeks there have been a number of postings about the >Atomic bomb. Several of these have been debating the morality of the first >atomic bombs dropped on Japan. One basic flaw runs through them all, and >many other bomb related articles on the net. Most people are not aware of the >following simple fact: > >*** A bomb is not a military weapon. Rather, it is a political weapon. *** > >A bomb is not designed to take territory (the basic goal of all wars), but is >intended to demoralize the population while *maybe* destroying installations >useful to the enemy. [...] "richardt" is right, generally, but I would like to point out that the bomb is really just a tool, usable in many ways. I do not believe that Pearl Harbor was just an attempt to demoralize a population, but rather an attempt to gain a significant military advantage by destroying much of the opposing weaponry. (Remember: Pearl Harbor was *not* intended to be a "sneak attack".) Or, to put it another way, guns, tanks, airplanes, missiles, etc, all do not take territory... -- William Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill