Reply #121: The US had the war won; Japan couldn't have "forced" it to invade

[Shatov]

That the decision to bomb largely civilian targets saved a million American servicemen's lives is by no means uncontestable.

Quite a number of prominent figures at the time, both civilian and military, opposed the bombing, on grounds that Japan had already begun pressing for peace. (http://www.doug-long.com/quotes.htm)


This was a wholly unnecessary act. Japan had by that time been decimated, deprived of any air force or naval assets of any value. What, pray tell, would have prevented the Allies from simply cordoning off the home islands? Were the Japanese really in a position to "force" Americans into invading?

The worse part of all is that the bombing was all for naught. After all, the Allies eventually agreed to Japan's pre-Hiroshima terms. Had they simply agreed to keep Hirohito on as a figurehead, 200,000 people would not have died.