Reply #295: Excuse me but it was one man, Harry S. Truman, who made [View All]

the final decision. He could have decided not to. Now Harry is one of my favorite Presidents but I think in this he erred. There is pretty good evidence too that the Japanese were ready to surrender, but officially we will never know. Does anyone know that Truman offered this to the Japanese, an ultimatum that we would bomb them with this super weapon if they don't surrender? I don't think such an offer was made so we still weren't at the desperate stage.

I believe that the reason General MacArthur spared the Emperor's life was because he knew that we jumped the gun and to bring Emperor to trial and execution at that time would be tantamount to assassination once all the facts were known in the future.

I know that Americans want to believe they did the right thing and will profer any number of arguments to back their beliefs so as not to feel too guilty. However, it doesn't change the fact that this was a pivotal event in history that changed the world forever.