japanese war crimes-- was hiroshima

An intersting point from the meetings before the dropping of the bomb:

THE PRESIDENT then asked the Secretary of War for his opinion.

MR. STIMSON agreed with the Chiefs of Staff that there was no other
choice. He felt that he was personally responsible to the President
more for political than for Military considerations. It was his
opinion that there was a large submerged class in Japan who do not
favor the present war and whose full opinion and influence had never
yet been felt. He felt sure that this submerged class would fight ant
fight tenaciously if attacked on their own ground. He was concerned
that something should be done to arouse them and to develop any
possible influence they might have before it became necessary to come
to grips with them.

THE PRESIDENT stated that this possibility was being worked on all the
time. He asked if the invasion of Japan by white men would not have
the effect of more closely uniting the Japanese.

MR.STIMSON thought there was every prospect of this. He agreed with
the plan proposed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff as being the best thing
to do, but he still hoped for some fruitful accomplishment through
other means.

***

I find it interesting that there was a fear that should an invasion
occur, even those against the miltiarists might fight the U.S.

Thanks for that link, Keith--it's very interesting-- lots of stuff on
it.
The meeting was tkaen from this link:
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistle...xt/bmi11tx.htm

"Charles Gray" wrote in message
...
An intersting point from the meetings before the dropping of the bomb:


Thanks for that link, Keith--it's very interesting-- lots of stuff on
it.
The meeting was tkaen from this link:

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistle...xt/bmi11tx.htm

Its a site well worth exploring and shows just how
seriously the issue was considered at the highest
levels. The simple fact is neither the Japanese nor the
Germans would have hesitated a heartbeat before
nuking Washington, London or New York.

Keith