Truman and the A-Bomb

             President Truman was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Eisenhower, who was a five star general and witness for the Truman Defense, stated that dropping the bombs actually saved more lives than it killed. The number of casualties was much less than what would have resulted from a flat out battle. William Frederick Halsey Jr., a five star fleet general and witness for the Truman Defense, stated that a land attack would have been suicide for both the US and Japan. Truman himself explained how Japan refused to accept a peaceful negotiation, so dropping the bombs was the only other option. Oppenheimer, who was the scientific director of the Manhattan Project and witness for the Truman Defense, agreed that dropping the bombs was necessary to end the war and it was the US" only alternative. The US gave a clear warning that military action would have been used if they did not surrender. Japan is lucky that the US even gave them warning before they attacked. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was completely unexpected and cowardly. They killed many innocent Americans in this ambush, and Truman's response to it was the dropping of the atomic bombs. It was only fair to get revenge on Japan in the same fashion. James Trosko, a chief of radiation research and witness for the prosecution, argued that only the lives of innocent citizens were lost in the bombings, but really Hiroshima and Nagasaki were very important to Japan militarily. When Truman was questioned, he explained that these cities actually contained large numbers of Japan's troops, weapons, supplies, etc. which in turn would have been used against the US later in the war. Besides, the bombings succeeded in ending World War II, which was their primary objective. If the war was not ended in this method, Japan would have developed the atomic bomb also in the arms race and all hell would have broken loose.