Research my arse
the thing i love about extremists is that they believe their lies with such passion that it renders them totally blind.
Blind to reason, common sense, and .... the truth.
"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable."
HL Mencken.
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."
~ H.L. Mencken
"Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing."
Mencken
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weisserman.com
Footnotes
1. Gal Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 455.
2. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 431.
3. Basil Collier, The Second World War: A Military History, pg. 531.
4. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 437.
5. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 439.
6. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 439.
7. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 439.
8. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 442.
9. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 442.
10. James Franck et al., The Franck Report, June 11, 1945.
11. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 443.
12. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 443.
13. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 444.
14. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 445.
15. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 459.
16. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 446.
17. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 446.
18. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 446.
19. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 447.
20. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 451.
21. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 452.
22. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 452.
23. Henry L. Stimson, Statement by the Secretary of War, August 6, 1945.
24. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 456.
25. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 458.
26. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 455.
27. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 455.
28. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 455.
29. Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth, pg. 456.
30. Ronald Takaki, Hiroshima, pgs. 23-25.
31. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 30.
32. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 30.
33. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 30.
34. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 30-31.
35. William Leahy, The Leahy Diary, June 18, 1945.
36. William Leahy, The Leahy Diary, June 18, 1945.
37. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 33.
38. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 34.
39. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 34.
40. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 35.
41. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 35.
42. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 36.
43. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 36.
44. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 38.
45. Takaki, Hiroshima, pgs. 38-39.
46. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 39.
47. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 40.
48. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 52-53.
49. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 54.
50. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 54.
51. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 55.
52. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 56.
53. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 60.
54. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 60.
55. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 62.
56. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 62.
57. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 62.
58. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 70.
59. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 73.
60. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 74.
61. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 73.
62. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 73.
63. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 95.
64. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 109.
65. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 111.
66. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 110.
67. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 109.
68. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 115.
69. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 115-116.
70. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 115.
71. Henry L. Stimson, The Stimson Diaries.
72. Takaki, Hiroshima, pg. 116.
73. Henry L. Stimson, The Stimson Diaries.
74. Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, pg. 423.
75.Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, pg. 423.
Annotated Bibliography
1. Alperovitz, Gal. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995—LINK TO THIS BOOK
This book is one of the most extensive, authoritative documentations on the decision to use the atomic bomb that I have come across. It has two parts, the first documenting the events leading up to the decision and the many factors, institutions, and people that played a part in influencing it, and the second a chronicle of the creation and proliferation of the myth. I chose to use this book because it was extremely comprehensive, and offered ample information as well as explanatory insight into why things occurred as they did. It is written from a rather unbiased point of view with all arguments considered, the point being to trap all explicit information and obscurities about the decision down in one place where a successive and efficient analysis can be made. This book was especially helpful in discovering the official way in which the myth was engineered and touted to the public.
2. Collier, Basil. The Second World War—A Military History. William Morrow & Company, Inc., New York, 1967--LINK TO THIS BOOK
This book offered a factual presentation of many military decisions and events throughout World War II. It helped me find dates for momentous events, and I used it to look up facts and information in general.
3. Franck, James et al., The Franck Report. Manhattan Project "Metallurgical Laboratory", University of Chicago, June 11, 1945. *(Excerpt Below)
Link: dannen.com
The Franck report is a criticism of atomic warfare by the scientists involved in creating the atomic bomb through the Manhattan Project. It has useful information about the implications of atomic warfare, especially against Japan, in impacting international cooperation of atomic technology and in stirring up armament races. I chose to use the Franck report because of its telling of how dropping the bombs against Japan would just cause an arms race and lead to a cold war, which is what the creators of the myth (primarily Stimson, Conant, and Bundy) claimed, in so many words, that the using of the bomb would prevent.
4. Leahy, William J. The Leahy Diary, (Excerpt from) June 18, 1945 Link: The Leahy Diary: Prospect of a Negotiated Surrender
Leahy’s diary entry on this particular date includes his belief that Japanese surrender was inevitable and easily achievable by the United States; it also has information regarding the unimportancy and illegitimacy of “unconditional surrender” as a true impediment to negotiations on the Allies’ side. He also says why a land invasion of Japan is completely unnecessary, which helped in my writing of why the myth is untrue.
5. Stimson, Henry L. Statement of the Secretary of War. War Department, Washington D.C., August 6, 1945 Link: Statement of the Secretary of War
Stimson’s press release concerning the atomic bomb decision clearly states the necessity of the bomb in bringing the war to a close and in saving American lives, which proved important in showing the hypocriticality that characterized the formulation of the myth.
6. Stimson, Henry L. The Stimson Diary. Link: Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?
Stimson’s diary offers insight into the happenings of the administration during the time of the momentous decision, and again, what things really played a part in influencing the decision; it was important in my research because it has information about the President’s consideration of the Soviet Union factor during and after the decision.
7. Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima—Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb. Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 1995--LINK TO THIS BOOK
Concise, clear-cut, and illuminating, this book provides a steady, deep analysis on each aspect of the myth, and debunks every point sharply and implicatively. It helped me immensely in the portion of the paper where I needed to address each aspect of the decision because it is organized into chapters that announce and then delineate each facet of the myth. It includes a useful chapter about the psyche of President Truman, which aided my analysis of his need for a masculine identity and how that translated into a sort of “masculine diplomacy”. Its brevity made it efficient, appealing, and incredibly telling.
8. Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. HarperCollins Publishers Inc., New York, 2003--LINK TO THIS BOOK
This book helped me in the portion of the paper where I needed to address different arguments presented by different historians on the myth, and tell which ones I believed. It offered a good listing of different arguments and different things that people believed really happened, and then proceeds to tell why each could be true. That helped me, as I said, in my choosing of which anti-myth is founded on the best premise.
Anti-Bibliography
1. Amrine, Michael. The Great Decision. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1959.
This book tells a long story of the atomic bomb decision, just detailing all the events, meetings, and declarations, while holding the reader in a sort of suspense as to what the actual theme behind the events is. At the end, it does get into some hard-core myth debunking, with a few sentences as to the reality of Japanese surrender attempts for months before the decision; however, the solid portion of the book is given to myth propagation, so it wasn’t very useful to me.
2. Claypool, Jane. Turning Points of World War II: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Franklin Watts, New York, 1984.
This book is given more towards describing the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki than to analyzing the points behind it, which was what I needed for the paper.
3. Weinberg, Gerhard L. World in the Balance: Behind the Scenes of World War II. University Press of New England, New Hampshire, 1981
This book had very little to say about Japan, except generalities about Pearl Harbor and some battle descriptions. It didn’t focus on the atomic decision too much. Hence, I looked elsewhere for information. |
