03-07-2019, 11:30 AM
(03-06-2019, 10:31 PM)Hintergrund Wrote:(03-04-2019, 10:46 AM)Bill the Piper Wrote: I've read somewhere that the Emperor wanted to negotiate an honourable act of surrender, and asked the Pope to mediate, but Truman decided to fight to bitter end because he wanted to humiliate Japan and spread achievements of the American Revolution there. He succeeded, but I still cannot approve of the nuclear attack.
Truman knew WW1, he wanted to spare the lives of his soldiers, even if nobody else thought about that.
There were estimates that the war might claim another million lives of G.I.s, and even more Japanese. Even if the Japanese wouldn't decide to kill all of their PoWs or massacre millions of Chinese like they did in the Rape of Nanking before.
Give 'em Hell, Harry!
Truman is the last President to have a decision that huge laid in his lap, and had little time in office to use as preparation. I give him high marks for having the guts to do something less than the extreme of bombing Tokyo, which was one suggestion offered by his advisors. Let's hoe that no other President has to decide to use nukes again … ever!
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.