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

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