Fog of War
1. Robert S. McNamara was a Harvard professor and a strategist for U.S. military.
Even though he was not qualified to join the military by his vision, he still played
significant role during World War II. He was General Curtis LeMay’s assistant
and tactical analyst in Japan. He later became U.S. Secretary of Defense during
John F. Kennedy presidency.
2. Yes, he does have a point. He said in The Fod Of War that “why was it necessary
to drop the nuclear bomb if LeMay was burning up Japan?” and “this was all done
before the dropping of the nuclear bomb, which by the way was dropped by
LeMay's command.” He also said “proportionality should be a guideline in war.
Killing 50% to 90% of the people of 67 Japanese cities and then bombing them
with two nuclear bombs is not proportional, in the minds of some people, to the
objectives we were trying to achieve.” He said, “I don’t fault Truman for
dropping the nuclear bomb”. However, he believed that “He, [LeMay], and I'd say
I, were behaving as war criminals”.
3. I agree with his point. I do not think it was necessary to drop the nuclear bomb
while LeMay already were burning up Japan. I also do not fault President Truman
because I am not him. He made decision depending on many aspects. However,
what U.S. military did was also considered war criminals.
4. The war in the Pacific was a Tough Fight for soldiers from both sides.
a. About 110,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives and about 7,000
Japanese soldiers surrendered in the Battle of Okinawa.
b. About 22,000 Japanese soldiers involved and 1000 Japanese soldiers
surrendered in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
5. Operation Downfall was a plan that the Allied soldiers would invade Japanese
Islands almost at the end of World War II. It did not happen because the U.S
dropped nuclear bomb in Japan making them surrender.
I would not say if this was a good alternative to the A-Bomb use because I am
not a strategist. However, I do not think it was necessary to drop the nuclear
bomb because LeMay were burning up Japan. If Operation Downfall had
happened, we would have had the chance to win the war because we were
outnumbered Japan, but many more American soldiers would have lost their
lives.
6. President Herry S. Truman was the one who made decision on dropping the
nuclear bomb in Japan. I believe he made that decision because he wanted to
end the war faster. Every war was brutal, and whoever made decision had to
consider many aspects. What were done can not be undone. I dare not
recommend anything to President Truman because no matter what decision is
made during the war, it is brutal. If he had not decided to drop the nuclear
bomb in Japan, Operation Downfall would have happened, and more
Americans soldiers would have died. He decided to drop the nuclear bomb, the
war ended faster, American soldiers were saved, but many Japanese civilians
lost their lives.