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  • Global V - Gar Alperovitz Letter To Editor

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    Hodges letter ignores evidence and documents unearthed by historians. U.s. Intelligence had predicted that when the Soviet Union entered the war, Japan would collapse. President Truman's ''misplaced'' diaries record his agreement with this judgment.

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    Hodges letter ignores evidence and documents unearthed by historians. U.s. Intelligence had predicted that when the Soviet Union entered the war, Japan would collapse. President Truman's ''misplaced'' diaries record his agreement with this judgment.

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    37 views1 page

    Global V - Gar Alperovitz Letter To Editor

    Uploaded by

    api-303005183
    Hodges letter ignores evidence and documents unearthed by historians. U.s. Intelligence had predicted that when the Soviet Union entered the war, Japan would collapse. President Truman's ''misplaced'' diaries record his agreement with this judgment.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 1

    October29,1988

    ABombingofJapanWasUnnecessary
    TotheEditor:
    R.H.Hodges'sletter(''AnInnerCircleof100orSoCarriedOutABombingofJapan,''Oct.1),which
    defendsthebombingofHiroshimaandNagasaki,ignoreslongstandingevidenceanddocumentsunearthed
    byhistoriansinrecentyears.
    EventheofficialstrategicbombingsurveyconcludedshortlyafterWorldWarIIthattheatomicbombs
    wereunnecessary:''Japanwouldhavesurrenderedeveniftheatomicbombshadnotbeendropped,evenif
    Russiahadnotenteredthewarandevenifnoinvasionhadbeenplannedorcontemplated.''
    UnitedStatesintelligencehadlongpredictedthatwhentheSovietUnionenteredthewar(plannedforearly
    August1945),Japanwouldcollapse.PresidentTruman's''misplaced''diaries(discoveredin1978)record
    hisagreementwiththisjudgment.Stalin,hewroteonJuly17,1945,confirmedthat''he'llbeintheJapWar
    onAugust15th.''ThePresidentadded,''FiniJapswhenthatcomesabout.''
    UnitedStatesintelligencebroketheJapanesecodeearlyinthewar.Truman'sdiaryalsoconfirmsthathe
    knewJapanwastryingdesperatelytogetoutofthewarbyopeninganegotiatingchannelthroughMoscow.
    Truman'sadviserstoldhimthatsurrenderwaslikelyiftheUnitedStatesletitbeknownJapancouldkeep
    itsEmperor,aclarificationthePresidenttoldseveraltopofficialshehadnofundamentalobjectionsto(and
    whichhesubsequentlyoffered).
    TrumanwasadvisednottousetheatomicbombsbysuchfiguresasAdm.WilliamD.Leahy,Chairmanof
    theJointChiefsofStaff,andGen.DwightD.Eisenhower.WeknowfromSecretaryofWarHenryL.
    Stimson'sdiariesandotherdocumentsthattherushtouseatomicbombsquickly,ratherthanfollowother
    availablecourses,wasintimatelyconnectedwiththedesiretoendtheconflictbeforetheSovietUnion
    entereditonAug.15,1945,andwiththehopethatthebombwouldhelpindisputedEuropean
    negotiations.
    ButthecentralpointwasprobablybestputinGeneralEisenhower'sbluntformulation:''Itwasn'tnecessary
    tohitthemwiththatawfulthing.''
    GARALPEROVITZ,Washington,Oct.4,1988
    Thewriterisauthorof''AtomicDiplomacy:HiroshimaandPotsdam.''

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