I suppose each individual will interpret, from their own personal feelings, and thoughts the words Truman used in his address. We can ONLY speculate, since of course we do not know HIS mindset. It's a bit like reading a passage from the Bible, depending on our own personal place, we will see something in passages, that others do not interpret at all the same way. But....we do have diaries and other written documents to give us truths, that can and does dispel the bomb was necessary.
It's very clear Stimson was trying to use other means to stop the war by his diary entries. My impression is Truman had the bomb, and was bragging he was the
"first" to use it. Sorry if no one else sees it this way. HE DID NO NEED TO USE THE BOMB to end the war and save lives.
This articles shows Japan was willing to surrender:
A Secret Memorandum
It was only after the war that the American public learned about Japan's efforts to bring the conflict to an end. Chicago Tribune reporter Walter Trohan, for example, was obliged by wartime censorship to withhold for seven months one of the most important stories of the war.
In an article that finally appeared August 19, 1945, on the front pages of the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times-Herald, Trohan revealed that on January 20, 1945, two days prior to his departure for the Yalta meeting with Stalin and Churchill, President Roosevelt received a 40-page memorandum from General Douglas MacArthur outlining five separate surrender overtures from high-level Japanese officials. (The complete text of Trohan's article is in the Winter 1985-86 Journal, pp. 508-512.)
This memo showed that the Japanese were offering surrender terms virtually identical to the ones ultimately accepted by the Americans at the formal surrender ceremony on September 2 -- that is, complete surrender of everything but the person of the Emperor. Specifically, the terms of these peace overtures included:
Complete surrender of all Japanese forces and arms, at home, on island possessions, and in occupied countries.
Occupation of Japan and its possessions by Allied troops under American direction.
Japanese relinquishment of all territory seized during the war, as well as Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.
Regulation of Japanese industry to halt production of any weapons and other tools of war.
Release of all prisoners of war and internees.
Surrender of designated war criminals.
Is this memorandum authentic? It was supposedly leaked to Trohan by Admiral William D. Leahy, presidential Chief of Staff. (See: M. Rothbard in A. Goddard, ed., Harry Elmer Barnes: Learned Crusader [1968], pp. 327f.) Historian Harry Elmer Barnes has related (in "Hiroshima: Assault on a Beaten Foe," National Review, May 10, 1958):
The authenticity of the Trohan article was never challenged by the White House or the State Department, and for very good reason. After General MacArthur returned from Korea in 1951, his neighbor in the Waldorf Towers, former President Herbert Hoover, took the Trohan article to General MacArthur and the latter confirmed its accuracy in every detail and without qualification.
"The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a "military base." That was because he wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians."
Again.....I see this as a means to justify the ends. This article shows differently:
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_Weber.htmlJustifications
President Truman steadfastly defended his use of the atomic bomb, claiming that it "saved millions of lives" by bringing the war to a quick end. Justifying his decision, he went so far as to declare: "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians."
This was a preposterous statement. In fact, almost all of the victims were civilians, and the United States Strategic Bombing Survey (issued in 1946) stated in its official report: "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because of their concentration of activities and population."
If the atomic bomb was dropped to impress the Japanese leaders with the immense destructive power of a new weapon, this could have been accomplished by deploying it on an isolated military base. It was not necessary to destroy a large city. And whatever the justification for the Hiroshima blast, it is much more difficult to defend the second bombing of Nagasaki.
All the same, most Americans accepted, and continue to accept, the official justifications for the bombings. Accustomed to crude propagandistic portrayals of the "Japs" as virtually subhuman beasts, most Americans in 1945 heartily welcomed any new weapon that would wipe out more of the detested Asians, and help avenge the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For the young Americans who were fighting the Japanese in bitter combat, the attitude was "Thank God for the atom bomb." Almost to a man, they were grateful for a weapon whose deployment seemed to end the war and thus allow them to return home.
After the July 1943 firestorm destruction of Hamburg, the mid-February 1945 holocaust of Dresden, and the fire-bombings of Tokyo and other Japanese cities, America's leaders -- as US Army General Leslie Groves later commented -- "were generally inured to the mass killing of civilians." For President Harry Truman, the killing of tens of thousands of Japanese civilians was simply not a consideration in his decision to use the atom bomb.
"Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster, which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first."Why does he justify using the atomic bomb
"first" as if because the U.S. did it before others, the destruction was not devastating?
Throughout all of history, the American people have wanted to trust their government. We want to believe they make decisions for the best interest and safety of our country. Throughout all of history, it has been repeated behavior, presidents past and present, use the trust of the American people to make political decisions, that deal more with their own personal agenda, political party, and power seeking. They use the media for their own cover ups. Special investigations and documents uncover truths, and reveal to the public sooner or later the reality. I for one am no longer choosing to be spoon fed by our government, and president for the sake of their agendas. The fact Roosevelt deemed it necessary to keep his Vice President Truman in the dark about the atomic bomb, gives me enough reason to believe the bomb was being created to be
"the first to use it" as he so boldly and proudly states in his address. Both presidents refused to take the intelligent advice of their generals, secretary of State, and even allies, in using other productive methods to end the war. Arrogance gets in the way of many presidents and thank God, Kennedy had a calmer head, and was willing to take the time to listen to his advisors, before pressing that button!
To end the war, to save lives, and to kill the least amount of civilians......I think NOT. The women of Atomic City were duped, just as the American people were. This argument has gone on for centuries and will continue to go on for centuries. All we can do now, is pray no other leader will make the mistake of passing up a surrender, or even the chance of a surrender, before using such a devastating nuclear bomb in our future.
