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Truman's actions here must also be considered in light of the argument that he had been misled about the nature of the targets for the atomic bombings. From hi
by caf 9y ago
Truman's actions here must also be considered in light of the argument that he had been misled about the nature of the targets for the atomic bombings. From his diary in July 1945:
"This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new."
"He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I’m sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler’s crowd or Stalin’s did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful..."
( http://www.dannen.com/decision/hst-jl25.html http://www.dannen.com/decision/hst-jl25.html )
Truman also ordered the immediate cessation of further atomic bombings without his explicit approval on August 10th (the military was planning to continue the bombings as further cores became available, which were being produced at the rate of a couple per month).
See also http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/08/08/kyoto-misconception/ http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/08/08/kyoto-misconceptio...
- kbenson 9y agoRadiolab actually touched on this during their Nukes special episode[1] recently. It's a fairly good accounting of the history of Nuclear weapons, from their place in our armament to public perception to how the law has changed around their use. 1: http://www.radiolab.org/story/nukes/ http://www.radiolab.org/story/nukes/
- reactor4 9y agoAlso, Dan Carlin's Hardcore history podcast #59.
- dbdr 9y ago> "The target will be a purely military one" Dropping such bombs on cities cannot be said to be "purely military". Was Truman really not aware of the targets, or was he being dishonest in his diary? According to the Wikipedia article [1], Truman was not in the Target Committee, but he was for instance approached about removing Kyoto from the list, so he was aware of the nature of the possible targets. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#Choice_of_targets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_a...
- caf 9y agoI suggest reading the last link above, particularly the conclusions about Truman's knowledge towards the end.
- dbdr 9y agoThank you. It's highly disturbing that such decision could be made with the president not understanding what he is ordering, and not being presented with other options (the "demonstration" before directly bombing a city).
- caf 9y agoGroves originally pushed back against the very idea that the military wouldn't be the ones choosing the targets!
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