Why You Love America

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Originally Posted by El Blanco

Dropping what? We only had 3. The first was the test in White sands, and then the next two to end the most destructive war the world had ever seen.

The 1st bomb needed to be approved by Truman, but after that, there was no provision mandating civilian leadership. Groves didn't even ok the dropping on Nagasaki with Truman. Furthermore, nobody could be certain that the Japanese would've surrendered post-bombings, since they damn near didn't. Had they not, plans were in the working for more bombs. Groves would've kept dropping them, and Truman estimated that another one could've been ready in one week. Truman also set the ball rolling on developing a Hydrogen bomb.

the same polls that said Dewey would become president?

HAR HAR HAR! TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE!!!

But seriously, the "polls are inaccurate" argument mayfly when judging whether folks in New Hampshire like or dislike Howard Dean's stance on health care, but considering what the "Japs" had done to us, add to that the heavy (and racist) propaganda mill that was spinning out stories, and you have one outraged public. Not dropping the bomb by that point may have proven to be a political nightmare for Truman.

Actually, it was because Japan was a determined and dangerous enemy. Anything less than unconditional would have been inviting a disaster.

Determined, yes. Invincible? No. Prolonging the war may have cost American lives, but I personally don't see that as a moral justification for killing the innocent.

The truth is nobody in the US government was certain Japan was going to surrender. It could've been propaganda to get us to ease up.

They barely surrendered after both of the bombs. They weren't certain even after all of the murder and destruction, and had Hirohito and Suzuki not pushed for it (putting their lives in jeopardy from their own people), the war would've been prolonged. Had things been slightly different internally, the "bloodiest war ever" may have continue, only now with the standards much lower.