"The use of [the atomic bombs] at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons." — Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy Chief of Staff to President Truman
@RealSpikeCohen Ahistorical take. Libertarians run off the rails, assuming if our govt did it, it must be bad.
@RealSpikeCohen Perhaps, but I think the most important argument against the atomic bomb was that civilians were the target. No calculus of lives saved and lost can justify that.
Apparently, the idea that they were ready to surrender did not come from the Japanese; it’s not in their culture to surrender and many discussions were had, and it was fairly unanimous that they were prepared to fight until the very end. And for the most part they did - the surrender came from the realization that the west was both willing and able to erase Japan. The key being able - had the bombs not dropped, they likely would’ve never considered surrender until it was much, much worse. Surrender was discussed before the bombs fell but it was not favored or being seriously considered at that time.
@RealSpikeCohen We didn't use it for Japan. We used it for the world and Russia.
@RealSpikeCohen And there’s more…. He wasn’t alone. x.com/anarchoxp/stat…
@RealSpikeCohen And there’s more…. He wasn’t alone. x.com/anarchoxp/stat…
@RealSpikeCohen @of_lyon68642 The Tokyo bombing raid of march 1945, caused as much death and damage as an atomic bomb yet the Japan’s fanatics running the country didn’t surrender.
@RealSpikeCohen They were useful data sets for understanding the effects of atomic warfare on a population.
@RealSpikeCohen @InuConquistador And yet they didn’t actually surrender even after the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. His opinion that they were already defeated is not born out by what they actually did.
@RealSpikeCohen It’s not in character of The Japanese to surrender. No one knows for sure but my bet is it would have continued for quite some time without the action taken.