<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><HTML><FONT SIZE=5 PTSIZE=16 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0">All:<BR>
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Consider this quote from Eisenhower regarding the use of nuclear weapons against Japan in WWII, and other quotes on this subject, available at the link this quote came from:<BR>
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<A HREF="http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm">http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm</A><BR>
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</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" BACK="#ffffff" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"><B>~~~DWIGHT EISENHOWER</B><BR>
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"...in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent. "During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..." - Dwight Eisenhower, <I>Mandate For Change</I>, pg. 380 <BR>
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All of the following information regarding the nuclear attacks against Japan in WWII from this site, which presents the arguments pro and con regarding these nuclear strikes:<BR>
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<A HREF="http://www.answers.com/topic/atomic-bombings-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki">http://www.answers.com/topic/atomic-bombings-of-hiroshima-and-nagasaki</A><BR>
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The <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Manhattan+Project&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Manhattan Project</A> had originally been conceived as a counter to <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=German+nuclear+energy+project&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Nazi Germany's atomic bomb program</A>, and with the defeat of Germany, several scientists working on the project felt that the United States should not be the first to use such weapons. One of the prominent critics of the bombings was <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Albert+Einstein&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Albert Einstein</A>. <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Le%C3%B3+Szil%C3%A1rd&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Leo Szilard</A>, a scientist who played a major role in the development of the atomic bomb, argued "<I>If the Germans had dropped atomic bombs on cities instead of us, we would have defined the dropping of atomic bombs on cities as a <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=War+crime&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">war crime</A>, and we would have sentenced the Germans who were guilty of this crime to death at <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Nuremberg+Trials&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Nuremberg</A> and hanged them.</I>" <BR>
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Their use has been called barbaric as several hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, and the choice of areas heavily populated by civilians. In the days just before their use, many scientists (including <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Edward+Teller&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Edward Teller</A>) argued that the destructive power of the bomb could have been demonstrated without the taking of lives. <BR>
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It has been argued that the use of atomic weapons against <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Civilian&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">civilian</A> populations on a large scale is a <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Crime+against+humanity&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">crime against humanity</A> and a <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=War+crime&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">war crime</A>. The use of poisonous weapons (due to the effects of the radiation) were defined as war crimes by <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=International+law&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">international law</A> of the time. Some have argued that Americans should have done more research into the effects of the bomb, including radiation sickness and the terrible burns that followed the explosion. <BR>
<A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Sadako+Sasaki&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Sadako Sasaki</A>, a young victim of the bombing, became a well-known symbol of nuclear war and is now commemorated by a statue in Hiroshima, carrying a paper crane (a symbol of peace).<BR>
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Some have claimed that the Japanese were already essentially defeated, and therefore use of the bombs was unnecessary. General <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Dwight+D.+Eisenhower&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Dwight D. Eisenhower</A> so advised the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=United+States+Secretary+of+War&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Secretary of War</A>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Henry+L.+Stimson&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Henry L. Stimson</A>, in July of 1945. <A HREF="http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm">[11]</A> (<I>http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm</I>) The highest-ranking officer in the Pacific Theater, General <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Douglas+MacArthur&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Douglas MacArthur</A>, was not consulted beforehand, but said afterward that there was no military justification for the bombings. The same opinion was expressed by <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Fleet+Admiral&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Fleet Admiral</A> <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=William+Leahy&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">William Leahy</A> (the Chief of Staff to the President), General <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Carl+Spaatz&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Carl Spaatz</A> (commander of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific), and Brigadier General Carter Clarke (the military intelligence officer who prepared intercepted Japanese cables for U.S. officials) (all also from <A HREF="http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm">[12]</A> (<I>http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm</I>)); Major General <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Curtis+LeMay&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Curtis LeMay</A> (<A HREF="http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog23/feature/">[13]</A> (<I>http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog23/feature/</I>)); and Admiral <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Ernest+King&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Ernest King</A>, U.S. <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Chief+of+Naval+Operations&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Chief of Naval Operations</A>, and Fleet Admiral <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Chester+Nimitz&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Chester W. Nimitz</A>, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (both from <A HREF="http://www.doug-long.com/ga1.htm">[14]</A> (<I>http://www.doug-long.com/ga1.htm</I>)). <BR>
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Others contend that Japan had been trying to surrender for at least two months, but the US refused by insisting on an unconditional surrender. In fact, while several diplomats favored surrender, the leaders of the Japanese military were committed to fighting a 'Decisive Battle' <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Operation+Downfall&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">on Kyushu</A>, hoping that they could negotiate better terms for an armistice afterward—all of which the Americans knew from reading <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Magic+%28cryptography%29&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">decrypted Japanese communications</A>. The Japanese government never did decide <I>what</I> terms, beyond preservation of an imperial system, they would have accepted to end the war; as late as August 9, the Supreme Council was still split, with the hardliners insisting Japan should demobilize its own forces, no war crimes trials, and no occupation. Only the direct intervention of the Emperor ended the dispute, and even after that a military coup was attempted to prevent the surrender (although it was easily suppressed). <BR>
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Some have argued that the Soviet Union's switch from wary neutral to enemy on August 8, 1945 might have been enough to convince the Japanese military of the need to accept the terms of the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Potsdam+Declaration&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Potsdam Declaration</A> (plus some provision for the emperor). As it happened, the decision to surrender was made before the scale of the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Operation+August+Storm&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Soviet attack</A> on <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Manchuria&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Manchuria</A>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Sakhalin&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Sakhalin</A> Island, and the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Kuril+Islands&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Kuril Islands</A> was known, but had the war continued, the Soviets would have been able to invade <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Hokkaido+Prefecture&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Hokkaido</A> well before the Allied invasion of Kyushu. <BR>
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Other Japanese sources have stated that the atomic bombings themselves weren't the principal reason for capitulation. Instead, they contend, it was not the American atomic attacks on <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+6&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 6</A> and <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+9&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 9</A>, but the swift and devastating Soviet victories on the mainland in the week following Stalin's <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+8&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 8</A> declaration of war that forced the Japanese message of surrender on <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+15&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 15</A>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1945&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">1945</A>. Certainly the fact of both enemies weighed into the decision, but it was more the fear of Soviet occupation that hastened imperialistic Japan's acceptance of defeat. <BR>
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Many critics believe that the U.S. had ulterior motives in dropping the bombs, including justifying the $2 billion investment in the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Manhattan+Project&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Manhattan Project</A>, testing the effects of nuclear weapons, exacting revenge for the attacks on <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Pearl+Harbor&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Pearl Harbor</A>, and demonstrating U.S. capabilities to the <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Soviet+Union&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Soviet Union</A>. Scientists who had worked on the project later noted that they were pressured to finish the bomb by a set schedule, one which was timed to coincide with the Russian entrance into the Pacific theater, and one which additionally implied that the war would be potentially over very soon. <BR>
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Some believe more effort to reduce casualties should have been made. Further, some claim this could have been done without affecting the stated purposes of the bombing. "No evidence has ever been uncovered that leaflets warning of atomic attack were dropped on Hiroshima. Indeed, the decision of the Interim Committee was <I>that we could not give the Japanese any warning.</I>" <A HREF="http://www.doug-long.com/letter.htm">[15]</A> (<I>http://www.doug-long.com/letter.htm</I>) However, after the Hiroshima bombing, Truman announced "If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth." On <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+8&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 8</A>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1945&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">1945</A> leaflets were dropped and warnings were given to Japan by Radio Saipan. (Nagasaki did not receive warning leaflets until August 10). On <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=August+9&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">August 9</A>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=1945&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">1945</A> at 11:02 (Nagasaki time) Fat Man exploded at 1950 feet near the perimeter of the city, scoring a direct hit on the Mitsubishi Steel and Arms Works with a yield of 19-23 kt. <A HREF="http://vikingphoenix.com/public/JapanIncorporated/1895-1945/abombchr.htm">[16]</A> (<I>http://vikingphoenix.com/public/JapanIncorporated/1895-1945/abombchr.htm</I>) (An English translation of that leaflet is available at <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_leaflets.html">PBS</A> (<I>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/truman/psources/ps_leaflets.html</I>) and below.) <BR>
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The decision to bomb Nagasaki only a few days after Hiroshima raises separate issues. Some people hold that most of the arguments for the use of the atomic bomb do not justify dropping the second one on Nagasaki. In his semi-autobiographical novel <I><A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Timequake&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Timequake</A></I></I>, <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Kurt+Vonnegut&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1">Kurt Vonnegut</A> said that while the Hiroshima bomb may have saved the lives of his friends in the U.S. armed forces, Nagasaki still proved that the United States was capable of senseless cruelty. <BR>
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Vision2020 Post by Ted Moffett</FONT></HTML>