Talking About World War II: Did the atomic bomb really have to be dropped, as U.S history books state?
On Quora, the debate over whether the U.S. should have sought other ways to end the Pacific War instead of dropping atomic bombs on Japan continues. Yesterday, I replied to this question by James Germain: Did the atomic bomb really have to be dropped as U.S history books state? It’s not just “U.S. history books” that state the necessity for the use of atomic weapons against Japan; many Japanese historians also say the same thing. Now that we’ve got the “handwringing over the bomb” part out of the way, let’s consider the alternatives that were available to President Harry S Truman, Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur: Before President Truman decided to use atomic weapons to shock the Japanese militarists into accepting the Potsdam Declaration and agreeing to surrender unconditionally (with, perhaps, private guarantees that the Emperor could retain his position as a ceremonial head of state), he had several alternatives, none of whic