Reply #185: Let's confine ourselves to the facts, and the relevant time period.

[timbo]

This thread, like so many lately, is, at least to me, quite disturbing.

That there can be a difference of opinion is not a problem. What strikes me as problematic is the sense that one can make an assertion, here without any facts, repeat it endlessly, and believe that one has made a valid point. That these posters inevitably resort to ad hominem attacks is truly objectionable.

I would propose that the proper inquiry here is whether President Truman made a morally and politically efficacious decision based on the information available to him at that time. Please note that I do not believe that is appropriate or helpful to consider the ex post facto opinions of others who waited to speak until later, or who may have had a separate agenda at some later point in time.

In order to consider President Truman’s decision it would also be helpful to remember that he did not make this decision in the late Twentieth Century, with instant internet, television, or even radio communications.

To me the relevant factors in his decision making process are:
1. President Truman was the President of the United States, not any other country.
2. We were engaged in a war against Japan.
3. Japan started the war, and Japan was a tenacious enemy with a history of brutality.
4. President Truman’s primary goal was to end that war and save as many American lives as possible.

If we limit ourselves to what facts President Truman had at that time, and his necessary goal as President of this country, perhaps this discussion may be more meaningful.