Truman and the Hiroshima Cult PDF
Preview Truman and the Hiroshima Cult
TRUMAN AND THE HIROSHIMA CULT TRUMAN AND THE HIROSHIMA CULT Robert P. Newman Michigan State University Press East Lansing 1995 Copyright © 1995 Robert P. Newman All Michigan state University Press books are produced on paper which meets the requirements of American National Standard of Information Sciences-Permanence if paper for printed materials ANSI Z39.48-1984. Michigan State University Press East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5202 03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Newman, Robert P. Truman and the Hiroshima cult / Robert P. Newman. p. cm. - (Rhetoric and public affairs series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87013-403-5 (alk. paper) 1. World War. 1939-1945-Japan-Hiroshima-shi. 2. Truman, Harry S., 1884- 1972. 3. World War, 1935-1945-Japan-Nagasaki-shi. 4. Atomic bomb-United States-Moral and ethical aspects. 5. Hiroshima-shi (Japan)-History Bombardment, 1945. 6. United States-Military policy-Moral and ethical aspects.. 7. United States-Foreign relations-Soviet Union. 8. Soviet Union Foreign relations-United States. I. Title. II. Series. D767.25.N3N48 1995 940.54'25-dc20 95-20263 CIP Michigan State University Press Rhetoric and Public Affairs Series Senior Editor: Martin J. Medhurst, Texas A & M University Editorial Advisory Board: G. Thomas Goodnight, Northwestern University Richard B. Gregg, Pennsylvania State University Robert Hariman, Drake University Robert L. Ivie, Indiana University Jay Mechling, University of California, Davis Michael Osborn, Memphis State University Kathleen J. Turner, Tulane University to J. William Fulbright who knew the difference between a just war and an ignoble crusade Even as the formal days of atonement in the Jewish and Christian calendar weaken, lose some of their traditional power, and attract fewer of the young to their rites, the age-old human impulse to critical self-scrutiny, with resulting acts of contrition to amend for past sins, takes on a new and more secularized form. The date is August 6. Its icon is a mushroom cloud. The sin to be expiated is America's. And the event is Hiroshima. Andre Ryerson "The Cult of Hiroshima" in Commentary, October 1985 Contents Preface xi 1 Why Did Truman Drop the Bomb? 1 2 Was Japan Ready to Surrender? 33 3 Was the Policy of Unconditional Surrender Justified? 57 4 Why No Warning or Demonstration? 79 5 Was a Second Bomb Necessary to End the War? 105 6 Was Dropping these Bombs Morally Justified? 115 7 Why Has the "Japan-as-Victim" Myth Been So Attractive? 153 8 What if the Bomb Had Not Been Used? 185 Notes 199 Chronology 237 Bibliography 243 Index 261
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