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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
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To: Tom Clarke who wrote (149289)5/28/2001 9:56:28 PM
From: CYBERKEN  Read Replies (1) of 769670
 
That idea was actually discussed in at length in 1945, and rejected for reasons that were perfectly reasonable for the historical environment at the time. We still all think of World War II as a John Wayne movie where the enemy was doomed from the start and it was just a matter of waiting for the inevitable fall of Berlin and Tokyo. It was nothing of the kind. The idea that Imperial Japan would have surrendered after a massive fireworks display and radio waves full of propaganda was, then as now, absurd.

The conventional air strikes against Japanese cities had been destroying 2-3 cities a week without a word from the enemy. The idea that they could sacrifice their cities for the "victory" of shooting down a few B-29's in the process appeared to us to be perfectly acceptable to them. There was no way to dispute that concept. The counter-argument that it might not be what they really believed was totally academic, and irrelevant. The PROOF that a city could be destroyed with one plane, at high altitude, using one bomb, and escaping with full fighter cover, swayed their decision.

Perhaps no one who did not live through WWII, whether here or abroad, can ever fully understand the idea that it had to be ended in victory as quickly as possible. Can you possibly take that on faith? (It isn't so difficult.)
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