Posted by
john on Friday, November 21, 2008 11:10:30 AM
"It's (Japanese Supreme Council) final plan for the defense of Japan itself, 'Operation Decision', provided for the use of 10,000 suicide planes... 2,350,000 trained troops would fight on the beaches, backed by 4 million army and navy civil employees and a civilian militia of 28 million. Their weapons were to include muzzle-loaders, bamboo spears, and bows and arrows...
American intelligence quickly became aware of this fight-to-the-finish strategy, and American commanders were under no illusions, in the light of their experience in conquering the mid-Pacific islands, what it would mean in terms of casualties... By this stage in the war, the Americans had suffered 280,677 combat deaths in Europe and 41,322 in the Pacific, plus 115,187 service deaths from non-hostile causes, and 971,801 non-fatal casualties. In addition, 10,650 US servicemen had died while prisoners of war of the Japanese (out of a total of 25,600). The Allied commanders calculated that, if an invasion of Japan became necessary, they must expect up to a million further casualties. Japanese losses, assuming comparable ratios to those already experienced, would be in the range of 10 million to 20 million." Paul Johnson, "A History of the American People".
According to the Washington Post, as of November 14, 2008, U.S. casualties in Iraq total 4196 KIA, and 30,793 non-fatal casualties.