So there were civilians killed during Pearl Harbor...just saying

I'm not quite sure what this comment is talking about. Cutting off oil was the just thing for America to do. Japan was acting as an imperialistic nation, but what's more, they were going in and pillaging the lands they conquered. The Rape of Nanking is known to be arguably one of the worst genocides of all time. From December of 1937 to February 1938, 250,000 to 360,000 people were brutally murdered. To not do anything would have been a travesty on the part of the US.

The New Testament and the Old Testament are addressing two different subjects. The New Testament is addressing how we should treat others on a personal level. We are to turn the other cheek. The Old Testament is referring to how a government is supposed to operate, and in that case, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." As for this article, I agree with most of the comments. First of all, what sources say Japan was going to surrender? I see this statement frequently, but there is very little to back up this sentiment. The Japanese weren't even going to surrender after Hiroshima, and even though a cabinet meeting was called on August 7, there was little serious talk about surrender even then. As for your quote, while I don't doubt its accuracy, it also contradicts later quotes that were said to have been said by the emperor. For instance, Hirohito was said to have told Tojo that it became obvious to him that they needed to surrender after the atomic bomb. The thing to remember about all of these quotes is when people testified that he said these things, they were desperate to make him look peace loving to keep him from being executed. Also, there were plenty of innocent civilians killed during Pearl Harbor. It wasn't a large number in comparison to other bombings, but the number is somewhere around 50. Also, keep in mind Japan did not properly zone their cities as we did, meaning that civilian and military was not properly separated, making civilian casualties unavoidable (and partially their own fault). And the atomic bomb was so much more than "an eye for an eye, a tooth for tooth." While this may seem odd, the bomb was about saving lives. Secretary of War Henry Stimson predicted over a million Japanese lives were going to be lost if we had to invade the mainland, simply because of their devotion to their emperor. We are talking about children being trained to strap bombs to them and roll under American tanks. This would have been bloodshed like history had never seen before, dwarfing both those lost on D-Day and at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I agree with Kathy, opinion base.

This is a completely opinion-based article. That's all I have to say.

I normally don't like to criticize people directly, but I'm sorry to say that you obviously have no understanding of the US situation during WWII or the Japanese.  Prior to Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were busy invading China, Korea, and Manchuria.  This includes the famous "Rape of Nanking" which you seem to ignore or know nothing about.  The League of Nations imposed sanctions on Japan which another poster seems to be blaming on the US.  Considering Japan was enslaving their neighbors and commiting genocide, the sanctions were in order.   Japan started the war against the US as they wanted to dominate the pacific and enslave it's peoples.  The US Navy was the only thing standing in their way and since they did not feel like they could beat the US, they tried to deliver a crippling blow.  Then they proceeded to invade Singapore and the Philippines and treated captive Americans and British soldiers brutally, have you ever heard of the Bataan Death March?  Women who were captured suffered an even worse fate as they were used as "comfort women" for Japanese troops, mostly being RAPED many times per day in the most brutal manner possible.  There are many more atrocities.   I think you should be ashamed of your own ignorance shown in this juvenile post.  Many of the commenters should also be ashamed.  Great leaders make hard decisions and have to choose only for the greater good of their own people.  This was the correct decision, as it brought an end to a war that we never asked for and a war in which the American people suffered greatly.  Allowing the brutality and absolute barbarity shown by the leaders and armed forces of the Empire of Japan is what earned your so called "innocent" children and elderly the exhibition of the MIGHT of the USA that they had foolishly cheered when they attacked an innocent country that was an important part of the world community.   In closing, I would like to suggest that you read some books about WWII before writing anything else on the subject as you are obviously ignorant of the facts.

In the first testament it's an eye for an eye, but the second testament is a little different. Maybe if you Check your bible again you'd understand :)

Check your facts. Heroshema was a military target. We did warn them twice. The firebombing of Tokyo was much worse than the a-bombs. The people were starving. Both heighranking American and Japanese agreed that the Japanese army would have fought till every last able-bodied citizen was dead. And all my research comes from credible sites. The bomb saved many more lives, especially the japanese, than if we had kept up the usual tactics and/or invaded.

The US shouldnt of tried to cut of Japans oil otherwise Pearl Harbor would have been avoided completely. The US claims they were attacked for no reason. If the US didn't supply the British, the Germans would of taken Europe and the war in Europe would of ended with out the loss of life we had. If the US didn't try to play politics with Japan, we would have never been bombed. Was America just for the loss of life in Dresden and the Two Japanese cities? Look at how the US handles politics today. What right does one country have to decide anothers way of life? The Germans and Japanese people paid dearly and were put to trial for war crimes. How long must we wait for some other country to supass our military power and put our leaders up for war crimes committed in the Middle East? Its up to people to wake up actually think for theirselves.

the term an eye for an eye was gandhi's words not Buddha's 

It could have been alot worse, if we didn't drop the bomb we could have set up a major assault on Japan, killing at least twice as many people.

Dude, and according to about three times as many sources, we could have done worse and if japan wanted oil, then why don't they ask ncely instead of be idots.  Yuo have nooo idea what that boming on pearl harbor did to us, we were saying an eye for a head and a tooth for a broken neck.  And also according to just about everyone Christianity is stuipid and so , sadly I as a Christian is surrounded by people who don"t know any better.