Hi Ken & David,
Ken said:
> At least twice now I have seen the reason given for dropping the bombs on
> Japan as being to keep the Russians out. This is not the overriding reason.
> Remember, the Russians did not have the bomb at this time so we had less
> reason to doubt that we could control them. the reason was that the
> invasion of Japan would have cost more lives on both sides than dropping
> the bombs did. I would like to see some of your history books. Sounds like
> hindsight thinking to me.
I am here to bear witness to the fact that recent history books do mention
Stalin as a factor in deciding to drop those bombs. I'm no historian by any
means, but I don't think we will ever know all the factors that led to Truman's
decision. All we really do know for a fact is what he told the American
people. What I would like to see is a Japanese or Soviet history book. I
think the general thrust of any nation's history is to make sure the nation is
portrayed in a good light. Have you ever seen a history book where the nation
whose children it was intended to teach said anything about it being wrong or
evil? Perhaps German history books today say that about Hitler, but I bet they
also say or imply that though HE was a bad man, that doesn't mean the PEOPLE
were bad - even though they followed him and couldn't help but notice the
anti-Semitism.
History is a Social level construct. Given the fact that the Social level is
not overly concerned with facts it might be a good idea to always read it while
in an "Intellectual level" frame of mind.
Pax Romana,
- Mary
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