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About this quote

What does it mean?
Truman justifies bombing civilian areas as necessary to end the war.
In plain terms
Civilian deaths were unavoidable to destroy war industries.
What can you take from it?
War often forces terrible choices.

Where it applies

  • wartime decisions
  • ethical dilemmas

Putting it to work

  • analyze wartime ethics

Questions to consider

  • Are civilians ever targets?
  • What ends justify means?

Another view

Civilian protection should be prioritized over strategic gain.

More from Harry S. Truman

  1. The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as …

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  2. I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies w…

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  3. The British, Chinese, and United States Governments have given the Japanese people adequate warning of what is in store for them. We have laid down the general…

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