The Real Reason America Used Nuclear Weapons Against Japan. It Was Not To End the War Or Save Lives.
The Real Reason America Used Nuclear Weapons Against Japan. It Was Not To End the War Or Save Lives.
Like all Americans, I was taught that the U.S. dropped nuclear
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to end WWII and save both
American and Japanese lives.
But most of the top American military officials at the time said otherwise.
The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey group, assigned by President Truman
to study the air attacks on Japan, produced a report in July of 1946
that concluded (52-56):
Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by
the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the
Survey’s opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945 and in all
probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.
General (and later president) Dwight Eisenhower – then Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces, and the officer who created most of America’s WWII military plans for Europe and Japan – said:
The Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.
