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[Regarding the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]: To put it briefly: the evidence is quite overwhelming on this matter. The Japanese had sent an envoy (Ambassador Sato) to Moscow (still officially a neutral) to work out a negotiated surrender. An instruction from Foreign Minister Togo came in a telegram (intercepted by American intelligence, which had broken the Japanese code early in the war), saying: 'Unconditional surrender is the only obstacle to peace... It is His Majesty's heart's desire to see the swift termination of the war.' The Japanese had one condition for surrender which the U.S. refused to meet - recognizing the sanctity of the Emperor. It seemed the U.S. was determined to drop the bomb before the Japanese could surrender - for a variety of reasons, none of them humanitarian. After the war, the official report of the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, based on hundreds of interviews with Japanese decision-makers right after the war, concluded that the war would have ended in a few months by a Japanese surrender 'even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.'

Howard Zinn#8

WarNuclear weaponsTruth

About this quote

What does it mean?
Evidence suggests the U.S. dropped atomic bombs despite Japan seeking surrender, likely due to reasons other than humanitarian necessity.
In plain terms
Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped, suggesting the U.S. had other reasons for using them.
What can you take from it?
Official justifications for military action may not match the truth.

Where it applies

  • historical review
  • policy debate
  • war analysis

Putting it to work

  • verify historical claims
  • question official narratives

Questions to consider

  • What really drives war decisions?
  • How do we verify wartime claims?

Another view

Some argue the bombs prevented a costly invasion.

More from Howard Zinn

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