Saul Cheyne.
President Harry Truman. (United States)
Following the bombing of the two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki I have persistently been asked by politicians and citizens alike to justify my decision to bomb Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. I will say it loud and I will say it clear, I strongly agree with the use of nuclear weapons as means to destroy these enemy cities and end this horrible destructive war. As the president of the United States of America I was elected by the people to do one job and that job is to protect the lives of American people and to make sure that they are able to live their lives to the highest standard possible. I am here today to not only defend my actions but to prove to you that there was no alternative course of action to end the suffering of
American soldiers and prevent any potential threat to American society.
The war in Europe is over. But yet in their effort to become more powerful in the pacific the
Japanese stubbornly refuse to surrender and agree to the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. a declaration The United States, United kingdom and China designed, and constantly rectified in order for it to be sensitive to Japanese culture. We made sure the content of the agreement would be acceptable to the Japanese belief in honour and we were still refused and insulted. This refusal to co operate meant that I was forced to take action by increasing the pressure on Japan to agree. Including the strategic incendiary firebombing of the capital
Tokyo, if this was not enough to prompt the Emperor to consider ending this war then nothing would. Blinded by pride and honour the Japanese government has failed its own people by refusing to surrender and even telling them to ignore our warnings and to continue fighting. The fact that we were left with no option but to drop a second bomb over Nagasaki days later as means necessary to end the suffering from this conflict is proof that the
Japanese would stop at no cost to cause harm and suffering to the American soldiers.
The japanese were given an abundance of warning to surrender. Over 63 million leaflets were dropped in 32 major cities in Japan. These leaflets clearly outlined the actions America would take if they did not encourage their governments to surrender for protection of their own lives, and to evacuate their respective cities as not to face the force of a new weapon
powerful enough to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the
Japanese have above ground in any city.
At regular intervals radio messages were broadcasted to the public explaining that
If they did not accept our terms they would expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.
When my key military advisor came to me saying that our countries and the world's top scientists had finally after years of research and billions of dollars developed a weapon that was powerful enough to end the war. It was an offer I could not refuse. I made the decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because will not let 100,000 of my men, your sons, brothers, fathers and uncles die invading Japan. I have been advised by the General
Marshall that over 100,000 American soldiers would have died in Kyushu 30,000 of those dying upon landing there. This loss of American lives would have been extremely detrimental to our economy and society. Our economy has already been destroyed by Japan.
The attack on Pearl Harbour was an unannounced unjustified violent assault that killed 2500 unprepared soldiers. Japan is claiming that this bombing was an overkill revenge strategy for this event. But it seems Japan has failed to recognise that in their decision to attack the
United States in Pearl Harbour they bought our great nation into a European conflict halfway around the world that we did not want anything to do with. Because of this attack we had no option but to go to war in Europe against