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writing for godot

Was the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Necessary?

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Written by David Starr   
Tuesday, 15 September 2015 06:28
World War II was the just war in the sense of fighting against Nazism and fascism. It brought down a madman who was trying to conquer the world with his Third Reich. It also destroyed the chance for Imperial Japan to conquer all of Asia. (Most prevalent in this attempted conquest was the Nanjing Massacre. This event stands out as one of the most barbaric in history as the Japanese military reeked havoc and carnage on the city's population.)

At the conclusion of World War II, most U.S. citizens felt (and still feel) that to end the war and thus avoid further casualties, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were necessary. It is perceived as the final victory the U.S. military accomplished in ending WW II.

It is hard to break through the myth-making within the U.S. mindset that atomic bombs needed to be used. But back then after the fighting was done, there were some who thought the bombings were not necessary; and this includes U.S. military leaders. Writer and historian Gar Alperovitz mentions four:

Adm. william Leahy, President Harry Truman's Chief of Staff - "The use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender...in being the first to use it, we adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages."

Henry Arnold, commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Forces: "The Japanese position was hopeless even before the first atomic bomb fell, because the Japanese had lost control of their own air."

Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet - "The atomic bomb played no decisive part, from a purely military standpoint, in the defeat of Japan. The first atomic bomb was an unnecessary experiment."

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower - "I voiced to him [Secretary of War Henry Stimson] my grave misgivings, first on the belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary."

Daniel Ellsberg, who was part of the secret Manhattan Project-involving the creation of and experimenting with atomic weapons-also says that conventional bombing was enough to thrust Japan into defeat. "On the night of the 14th [August], the [U.S.] Pacific Air Force put 1,000 bombers in cities over Japan. About 15,000 Japanese were killed by conventional bombing between August 5th and August 15th.

"On the night of March 10th 1945-five months before Hiroshima-the United States had 300 bombers over Tokyo and killed between 80,000 to 100,000 people in one night. We tried to do it again night after night against Kobe, Yokohama and 60 other Japanese cities. We never got the same firestorm going, and never killed as many people as in that one night.

"We killed about 500,000, altogether, with firebombing. It's nothing we needed atom bombs to do."

The United States and its allies confronted the evils of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. But with most U.S. citizens believing that atomic bombs were necessary against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, questioning the official narrative is not acceptable to them, even though conventional bombing was enough.

David Starr writes on various issues, both national and international.
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