America bombing Japan is comparable to Nazi death camps

Thanks Pro. I would like to remind everyone that it is my burden to show how my opponents comparison is fallacious, not necessarily to show that the bombings were justified. My Opponent must show that the motivation for bombing Japan was genocide. If we wish to draw a comparison between motivations the most logical things to look at are actions. Since no one (to my knowledge) who was involved in the decision to drop the Atomic bombs still lives, what was the factual motivation is something that is lost to history. We can only ascertain, to the best of our abilities, what the motivation was. As to the resolution, I negate. The first thing that needs discussion in this comparison is the events leading up to the actions. When the Nazi's went to kill the Jews, they did it out of a desire to wipe out the Jews from the face of the Earth. The Americans dropped the Atomic bombs after 4 long and deadly years of warfare. Immediately we can see a distinction between the two. While the bombings themselves remain incredibly controversial, it should be obvious that the United States was not motivated by a desire to exterminate the Japanese. If they were, my question would be: why didn't they? Consider that the United States was at the time the only Nuclear armed power. After the bombings we had no more nuclear weapons, but what with the industrial might of the United States along with the economic and military hegemony of the Allies during the closing of the Second World War proliferation and construction of the materials required to create more bombs would be swift. If the United States wanted to visit Nuclear annihilation on Japan than that is exactly what it would have done. Consider the terms of the Japanese surrender[1] (offered BEFORE the Nuclear bombs were dropped). "We do not intend that the Japanese shall be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, ... The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people. Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established." "Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy and permit the exaction of just reparations in kind, ... Japanese participation in world trade relations shall be permitted." "The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established, in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people, a peacefully inclined and responsible government." (Emphasis mine) If the U.S. was motivated by a desire to destroy the Japanese than why would they offer such generous terms? Why would they have allowed the Japanese to continue their existence as a pure race? And WHY would they build Japan into a democratic nation of economic might that still exists today? These are all questions my Opponent must answer. My Opponent draws a comparison, stating "The U.S. also killed people that had nothing to do with its problem. The people that were in those Japanese cities just happened to be part of the same country the Japanese army was part of"Unfortunately, this totally misses the point. It is true that the U.S. killied civilians (as did the Germans, Japanese, Italians, British, French, Russians, and everyone else involved in WWII) however it is incredibly erroneous to claim that they were not a part of our problem. In a total war (like WWII) a government devotes all of its resources to fighting the war. The entire country is fixtated on the war, it seeps into every aspect of life. Those civilians were a part of the enemies war machine. Just because someone isn't wearing a uniform doesn't mean they aren't fighting a war.Were the bombings justified? That is an incredibly debateable question. However, did the bombings happen out of a desire to end the Japanese as a race? Absolutely not.Recall that it is my Oponents burden to show us that the motivation was the same. The motivation for killing the Jews was to end them as a race. The motivation for the atomic bombings was to end a war. Thus, you negate.1. http://en.wikipedia.org...