What Oliver Kamm thinks on what Harry Truman thought

You think you are not interested in an academic row about Truman's thinking before Hiroshima, don't you? You don't care about Professor Howard Zinn, a man you have scarcely heard of?

Well you are quite wrong. You are about to read 4,000 words on the topic, without once losing interest.

Oliver Kamm has worked his usual magic - he has turned an obscure row, which should be of interest only to the person he is rowing with, into a compelling post that you won't want to miss.

Comments

[Mark Stephens]

President Truman stated after the bombing:

"The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in the first instance to avoid, in so far as possible, the killing of civilians."

In fact the official Bombing Survey Report said: "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen as targets because of their concentration of activities and population."

Truman spent considerable time justifying this act, after the fact.

Much information relating to this issue is yet to be declassified. Until such time that all documents are publically accessible, the picture will remain incomplete.