(Credit: Center for Strategic & International Studies)
I once saw The Enola
Gay at the Smithsonian many years ago and thinking to myself that it was
this small plane dropped the first atomic bomb ever. I also remember hearing
some reports on the news about the controversy to this exhibit and the strong
feelings of those who opposed the display. The book The Untold History of the Unites States would have you believe that
no other option was never even thought of. The book goes so far as to say that
certain high-ranking officers in the U.S. military even opposed the bomb and
everything the bomb stood for. General MacArthur was quoted as saying that the
bomb was “completely unnecessary from a military point of view”. (Kuznick
n.d.)
MacArthur was in the field and wasn’t in on any other strategies or plans after
the war. The book goes onto mention how Truman became joyful when he learned
the test was a success. It also says “ a revolver made all men 6 foot tall, the
successful atomic bomb test made the diminutive Truman a giant who towered over
the worlds most fearsome dictators”. (Kuznick
n.d.) The book basically makes Truman out to be a
man who had this new toy and couldn’t wait to use it. What I would like to
remind this book is that we can look back now, almost 70 years later, and say
we’ll we didn’t have to drop the bomb. That’s true but like any bad situation you’re
in, you don’t know just how it will end. To this day I feel that the decision
to drop it was the right one. What the book doesn’t do though is offer any of
the other options that Truman and his staff had available to him at that time.
So I thought I would research and see what some of the other options were. Nathan Donohue has already done this for us
and here are the options that Truman had available, pros and cons, for using
the bomb that the book didn’t show:
“Ending the war at the earliest possible moment - The
primary objective for the U.S. was to win the war at the lowest possible cost.
Specifically, Truman was looking for the most effective way to end the war
quickly, not for a way to not use the bomb.
To justify the cost of the Manhattan Project - The
Manhattan Project was a secret program to which the U.S. had funneled an
estimated $1,889,604,000
(in 1945 dollars) through December 31, 1945.
To impress the Soviets - With the end of the war
nearing, the Soviets were an important strategic consideration, especially with
their military control over most of Eastern Europe. As Yale Professor Gaddis
Smith has noted,
“It has been demonstrated that the decision to bomb Japan was centrally
connected to Truman's confrontational approach to the Soviet Union.” However,
this idea is thought to be more appropriately understood as an ancillary
benefit of dropping the bomb and not so much its sole purpose.
A lack of incentives not to use the bomb - Weapons
were created to be used. By 1945, the bombing of civilians was already an
established practice. In fact, the earlier U.S. firebombing campaign of Japan,
which began in 1944, killed an estimated 315,922
Japanese, a greater number than the estimated deaths attributed to the atomic
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The firebombing of Tokyo alone resulted in
roughly 100,000
Japanese killed.
Responding to Pearl Harbor - When a general raised
objections to the use of the bombs, Truman responded by noting the atrocities
of Pearl Harbor and said that “When you have to deal with a beast you have to
treat him as a beast.”” (Donohue 2012)
(Credit: Center for Strategic & International Studies)
Donohue then goes onto inform us of the cons that Truman and
his staff had to consider:
“Intensifying
conventional bombing and the naval blockade - General MacArthur felt that air power alone could force
a Japanese surrender within six months with little risk to American lives.
However, it was also argued that this may be a best case scenario where in
actuality it could take substantially longer.
Allowing
the Japanese to retain the Emperor - This plan was predicated on mitigating the call for
unconditional surrender by Japan. Both Secretary of War Stimson and Acting
Secretary of State Grew felt that this was an essential policy because of the
dedication and fanaticism of the Japanese people towards the Emperor Hirohito,
whom the Japanese believed to be a deity.
Waiting
for the Soviet Union to enter the war - This had been a primary objective of President Roosevelt
in his negotiations with the Soviet Union at the Yalta Conference.
Nevertheless, the Committee believed that a Soviet invasion of Manchuria would
be helpful but not decisive by itself.” (Donohue 2012)
Bibliography
Donohue,
Nathan. Understanding the Decision to Drop the Bomb on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. august 10, 2012.
csis.org/blog/understanding-decision-drop-bomb-hiroshima-and-nagasaki
(accessed february 13, 2013).
Kuznick, Oliver Stone and Peter. The Untold History of
the Unites States. New York: Gallery Books.
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