Reddit reviews Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan

To add to what was said, oil was important.

Following the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, the UK, Netherlands and the U.S. engaged in some pretty severe embargos against the Japanese, and it was starving their military. Without oil from the U.S., the Japanese wouldn't have been able to fuel its military to occupy Korea and China or to expand its empire into the European colonies they desired.

So to swipe the oil (And rubber) rich East Indies to become self reliant after the American oil embargo, the Japanese would have to deal with American bases in the Philippines, and it's pretty much what watermark0on said.

This little article gives a good summary.

Edit: If you ever want to read all about it, there is an absolutely excellent book about the Pacific war called The Eagle Against the Sun.

Yes, I've read it. My answer was for the army as whole, and it's doctrine.

My answer was based mostly on these books:

http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Against-Sun-American-Japan/dp/0394741013/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369281149&sr=1-1&keywords=eagle+against+the+sun

http://www.amazon.com/Soldiers-Sun-Rise-Imperial-Japanese/dp/0679753036

http://www.amazon.com/Fighting-Techniques-Japanese-Infantryman-1941-1945/dp/0760311455/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369281120&sr=1-2&keywords=fighting+techniques+of+a+japanese

http://books.google.com/books/about/Warriors_of_the_rising_sun.html?id=wkHyjjbv-yEC

http://www.amazon.com/Path-Infinite-Sorrow-Japanese-Kokoda/dp/174237591X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369281290&sr=1-1&keywords=the+path+of+infinite+sorrow

I also left out the days of leave, vacations, holidays, low pay rate, sake rations, and lots of other things that might actually be "fun."

Well the thing is that the replacement government didn't start a war. There were rebel factions that wanted to become a part of Russia. Ukraine wasn't going to take that sitting down. No country would. If Siberia said "Hey Russia, we aren't going to be a part of Russia anymore and if you come here we'll shoot at you" what do you think the Russian government would do?

And no. No Americans (to my knowledge) have been punished for starting the War in Iraq under false pretenses and that's a damn shame. I hope one day that they will have to stand trial and face the consequences of what they did.

A good place to start would be Eagle Against The Sun. It was written by a former US Marine and professional historian and it covers the entirety of the Pacific War and shows both American and Japanese perspective (both of which were very important in the decision of the dropping of the atomic bombs) and presents both sides of the arguments for and against the bombings.