SHOULD WE APOLOGIZE FOR DROPPING THE BOMB?
NO APOLOGY IS NEEDED
In my opinion Harry S. Truman's decision saved a million or more lives. Many of the veterans I have communicated with agree, as did two of our most recent Presidents.
In addition to the opinion that this decision saved many lives, it is also important to remember that this was a war being fought against one of the most brutal, racist and destructive war machines of modern times. There has been much more press given to the excesses of the Germans, but the Japanese were as brutal, though not as efficient in their brutality and genocide.
Some right wing apologists in the US and abroad have downplayed or denied the atrocities committed by both the Germans and the Japanese during the war. Prior to our entry into the war, there were many prominent Americans who supported these regimes politically, with machinery, in spirit and financially. So strong was this bond that the German American Bund endorsed the man running against Roosevelt in 1940. A number of businesses that were fronts for the enemy were seized or shut down by the Roosevelt Administration-some almost a year after we entered the war! (Union Banking Corp. was one of them-you'd be surprised to know who some of the principals were)
The brutality of the Japanese in Manchuria, Korea, China, the Philippines and other countries speaks for itself. The attack on Pearl Harbor was tame when compared to their conduct regarding civilians and POWs.
No apologies are necessary. In fact I am glad that we had President Truman in office to make this decision.
Recently one of the visitors to the site made a comment that they were upset that Bill Clinton had apologized for the use of the Atomic Bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not remembering his ever apologizing, I have researched it and found that the opposite is true. Here are some comments by recent Presidents regarding the war and relations with Japan:
George H W Bush:
Prior to visiting Japan, President George Bush was asked by a television reporter if a statement of regret was forthcoming from him about dropping the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and his reply was, "Not from this president."
Bill Clinton:
When asked if Harry S. Truman made the right decision, President Clinton simply replied "Yes, based on the facts he had before him." The decision to use the bomb clearly was the best decision possible at the time and the United States owed Japan no apology for the destruction rendered.
Clinton fittingly dubbed World War II the "most destructive in human history," we must never forget the United States used everything at its disposal to combat a ruthless enemy. In 1945, the use of nuclear weaponry against Japan always should be understood and never condemned.
George W. Bush:
My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. (Applause.) It begins here because for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific. And in that peace, the world has witnessed the broad advance of prosperity and democracy throughout East Asia. (source-White House website:)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/02/20020218-2.html
Harry Truman gave them hell-payback is a bitch...
The alternative: