Truman saved both Japanese and American lives with his decision. The firebombings would have continued and countless Japanese would have been incinerated in the long term. He saved countless American lives, the estimates are debatable. After Okinawa the death rate of American servicemen in the Pacific Theater dropped to less than 1,000 a month. After Nagasaki it all ended. Patriotic Americans would have crucified Truman if they had known he had the means to end the war in such a quick manner and had not used it.
Now to the recent past. How is Clinton being judged for the Somalia fiasco given it could have been prevented by providing our brave men with the equipment and support they needed to carry out their tasks? He is lauded by the same revisionist leftist crowd that castigates Truman.
In retrospect, the first paragraph of the article should be the major premise, however unfortunate, as it is war. If Nagasaki had to be chosen, and hopefully not as the author describes, then the article is far-reaching.