Should Americans feel guilty for winning WWII?
Aug 5, 2014, 2:12 PM | Updated: 2:14 pm
America’s war against Japan in World War II proved utterly one-sided: we lost less than 200,000 military personnel in the Pacific Theatre and virtually no civilians, while Japan sacrificed more than three million, including a million civilians.
Should Americans feel guilty because we killed far more of our enemies in a war they started?
This is a relevant question concerning Israel’s war in Gaza. Yes, casualty figures are far worse for Hamas than for Israelis, but that’s because Israel tries to minimize civilian death with bomb shelters and Iron Dome, while Hamas tries to maximize casualties by using civilians as human shields.
Moreover, an earlier Japanese surrender in WWII could have saved countless lives; continued killing was their choice. An inconclusive cease fire would have been merely an interruption of violence, not a resolution to it – and the same is true in Gaza.