Views

I've had some discussions lately about European views of America. I tend not to say too much about the subject because I feel like I am a guest on their continent and more so because these are the same people I hang out with all the time. So, I will use this to express my opinions on the matter because they have been bothering me lately and there aren't exactly a lot of people here that I feel could relate. Anyways...

I hear an argument how America polices the world, etc., etc. when there are gang wars going on in America, and people are getting murdered, etc. So, they argue that maybe America should stop policing the world and take care of things at home first. (In this person's home country the military will sometimes patrol the streets and they have somewhat of a nanny state.) My reply back to this is sometimes people or events abroad pose bigger threats to national security than say a thief down the street. (Ex. 9/11, or the American military aid to Mexico for their war against the drug cartels that could leak over into the U.S.)

I've also heard criticisms how America goes abroad and rapes a country of its resources etc. Needless to say this was a very vague critique and I have yet to find out where this happened and with what frequency.

Then a final rhetorical question posed was along the line of why did the U.S. drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki if not just to say, "Hey! We're America and we have an A-Bomb!". I tried to say that the Japanese hadn't surrendered, but my opponent suggested that Japan had "formally surrendered". By this point the subject had changed. I did some research and no, the Japanese had not "surrendered" formally or otherwise. At Potsdam towards the end of July 1945, the allies issued an ultimatum to the Japanese which was either surrender or the Allies would attack Japan, resulting in...

"the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland."

The Japanese Emperor responded to his ministers that the Imperial Regalia of Japan had to be defended at all costs. Long story short, there was a planned manned invasion of Japan, but the estimated casulties were anywhere between 250,000 to 1 million. (There was also an order by the Japanese that if an invasion did occur, authorities were to execute all the allied prisoners of war which was approximately 100,000). Thus the bomb was launched to achieve a speedy end to the war and to reduce the loss of life. The bombing of Hiroshima was approximately 140,000 lives. More warnings were issued to the Japanese and the war minister refused to accept that the bomb was atomic and refused to surrender. Three days later Nagasaki was bombed kllling approximatley 80,000 people. Finally, the Japanese surrendered.

The person I was talking with hadn't realized that the Japanese hadn't surrendered. However, it isn't surprising that they hold the view that America just wanted to show off their A-Bomb. They come from a country where I believe there are a few news outlets, if not just one and that almost (if not all of them) are government owned or substantially subsidized. Anyways, I found a really good essay about anti-Americanism in Europe and it's kind of long but you can find it here...http://www.hudsonreview.com/BawerSp04.html.