Re: Truman, war criminal?

If I may add one thing to Dr. Block’s excellent post, several high-ranking military officers thought that an invasion of Japan would not be necessary, including General Curtis LeMay and Admiral William Leahy.

Indeed, according to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, “the eventual decision to surrender would have been made, certainly by the end of 1945 and probably before November, the month set for the initial invasion of the home islands, without the additional persuasion of the atom bomb, Russia’s entry into the war, or amphibious invasion” (Wesley F. Craven and James L. Cate, eds., The Army Air Forces in World War II [Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1953], vol. 5, p. 741).

Sorry, residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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6:33 pm on August 6, 2009