Truman's decision to drop A-bombs unjustifiable,
essay says
NEW YORK, Aug. 5 Kyodo - (EDS: WEB SITE ADDRESS
OF TOMPAINE.COM IS: http://www.tompaine.com/) The decision by then U.S. President Harry
Truman to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945 cannot be justified
as a ''military necessity,'' a U.S. writer
says in an essay published recently in Internet
opinion journal TomPaine.common sense.
Philip Nobile, in his essay ''Hiroshima Debate:
Was Harry Truman a War Criminal?,'' claims
to be the first British or U.S. historian
to pursue the ''tantalizing criminal angle''
over the atomic bombings.
He slams the decision by Truman, saying the
U.S. dropped the bombs on nonmilitary targets
without telling Japan about the possibility
of the weapons' use.
''Anyone familiar with the literature knows
that Japan was in wretched shape by the summer
of 1945 and that Truman was aware of both
(then Emperor) Hirohito's desire to surrender
and his secret peace initiative in Moscow,''
he says.
''With the invasion delayed until Nov. 1,
Truman had ample time and opportunity for
a diplomatic conclusion.''
Many Americans believe that the dropping
of the atomic bombs on the two Japanese cities
was indispensable to end World War II.
''I visited Hiroshima two years ago and I
gave a talk at the Peace Museum. Just to
test my audience -- mostly Japanese intellectuals,
journalists, professors -- I asked them whether
they thought Harry Truman was a war criminal.
Everybody at the table raised his or her
hand,'' Nobile writes.
''Then I asked a control question. I said,
'Do you think that your leaders, (Hideki)
Tojo and his men, were war criminals?' And
everybody raised his or her hand again,''
he says.
''I promised those people in Japan that when
I came back to the United States and found
a comparable audience I would ask the same
question (about Truman).''
Nobile also points out that Truman discussed
with former British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill whether the dropping of the atomic
bombs was a criminal act, when Churchill
visited Washington in January 1953.
''During a stag dinner at the White House,
the prime minister startled Harry Truman
with a provocative question about the fate
of their souls. 'Mr. President, I hope you
have your answer ready for that hour when
you and I stand before St. Peter and he says,
'I understand you two are responsible for
putting off those atomic bombs. What do you
have to say for yourselves?'''
==Kyodo
