Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-03-22
Hiroshima Bombing

Your March is editorial,
Hiroshima Bombing" states
that the decision to use the
A-bomb was clearly rightf'
You mention one alternative,
q land invasion. BY implica-
ton, you exclude all other
possible courses Of action.
I submit that there were
at least two other clearly
right choices, neither of
which involved loss Of Amer
lean lives or equally precious
Japanese lives.
The first highly obvious
: course was the bona fide
! working out Of the details of
accepting the already prof.
fered Japanese surrender.
Less obvious, but equally
humane, would have been a
demonstration shot on one
Of the many small islands
near the mainland. The, de-
struction potentiallty would
have been no less clearly
demonstrated there than in
the center Of a metropolitan
area.
AS to your mention of
Pearl Harbor-it is also a
fact that two wrongs don't
make a right. My assessment
OF the infamy of the Pearl
Harbor attack remains to-
day what it was in 1871. My
conscience recoils in horror
at the needless Importation
of thousands of human be-
ings. I cannot rationalize
what would be O brutal,
wanton slaughter. IL COM
mitted by our enemies, into
a right or morally inculpable
deed, when it is committed
by Americans.
George A. Pickle, Jr.
The Star in an editorial
Justifies Mr.. Truman's de-
cision TO use the A-bomb
against Hiroshima and Naga-
Saki. and makes the state
ment' that Japan precipitated
the war with its infamous
sneak attack on Pearl Har-
Dor.
Hasn't it always been fair
and legitimate to launch
surprise attacks against an
enemy? Surely no one could
have expected Japan to
notify US that on a certain
Sunday morning an attack
would be made upon our
fleet while it lay peaceful
and secure in Pearl Harbor,
and thus forgo such an
important initial advantage
i'm q war which we as well
as they knew would soon be
upon us. We expected an
attack. but that the feet was
not warned in time has all
been brought out in the post
war literature on the subject
Cor has it?.>
Years ago japan had long
and fruitless negotiations
with the Russians on their
occupation Of Korea and
ManchUria, negotiations
which seemed just as in
sincere on the part of the
Russians as their present.
day negotiations with us. So
on February 6, 1904, a fiotilla
of Japanese torpedo boats
entered the harbor of Port
Arthur and in an early
morning surprise attack scut-
tied the entire Russian fleet
of battleships. The similarity
of this event to that which
happened at Pearl Harbor is
self-evident.
The Star commented on
that famous surprise attack
Of 1904. Here, too, The Star
was far from alone in its
attitude. To quote a Star
editorial Of February 9. 1904:
g. ;. The Russians will be
compelled to do a great deal
Of successful fighting on both
land and sea to recover the
prestige lost in that single
initial engagement, which
rebounds so greatly to the
credit OF their opponents" "
And again, on February 10:
THE dispatches indicate a
high state Of French indigna-
ton over the japanese stroke
Of war in advance Of a formal
declaration" (The French
were allies Of Russia at the
time.) And The Star in its
editorial continues: This is
a prejudiced view Of the
case" At the time. many
prominent newspapers and
magazines openly declared
that in the future 1t would
no longer be customary to
wait for q declaration Of war,
but that the precedent estab-
lished by the Japanese would
be followed.
After all. isn't the Japanese
criticism Of Mr.. Trumar and