[caveat emptor]

Whatever they say now, they were utterly defeated by the bombs. Too bad we didn't nuke the Germans - not many more, if any more casualties than the firebombing of Dresden, Hamburg, etc. (Stalin would have been extremely displeased; he had plans to sweep through Germany, the low countries, and France. Tough.) And the Japanese would have gotten the message sooner that they were toast, with fewer Japanese as well as American casualties - Thank God for the Atomic Bomb.

Today I'm 75. And that's it. No more birthdays for me!

[HiTech RedNeck]

Another picky point, omitted in most popular accounts, is that Truman had scruples about the potential kill from these primitive, multi-kiloton bombs. So much so, that he had Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and several other surrounding cities leafleted with warnings that they might be bombed. (He didn’t say how.) He warned them it would be best to “get out of Dodge” so to speak. Those who defied and stayed, paid the price, but they shouldn’t complain that they were surprised.

[P.O.E.]

Happy Birthday!

[Netz]

Happy Birthday!! It’s my daughter’s 18th as well.

[Netz]

Believe it or not, I have a Japanese brother-in-law. He’s 60 years old and grew up in a very pacifist society/generation.

When we were dining in Kyoto he admitted that the use of the bomb was probably a necessity because, he said, they never would have surrendered. That’s real candor for you.