Gideon Rachman’s thoughtful column “Oppenheimer, Israel and the laws of war” (Opinion, November 21) refers to American President Harry Truman’s claim that the nuclear bombing of Japan was “needed to end a savage war”.
Although debate continues, there is no question that by the time the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, most major Japanese cities had been incinerated by incendiary bombings, the country was encircled by enemies and Japan did not have an effective air force or navy.
As General and later US President Dwight Eisenhower told his biographer: “Japan was already defeated and . . . dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary.”
Sim Gurewitz
El Cerrito, CA, US
