teribus - Why do you think an invasion of Japan was necessary at all? I certainly don't. Why do you think "unconditional surrender" is EVER necessary as a way of ending a war. I certainly don't.

You see, it's hardly legitimate to propose one completely unnecessary plan of action (invasion of Japan), and then justify another completely unnecessary action (atomic bombings) by saying that the first one would be too costly!

Amazingly self-serving logic. This is how mass murderers justify their actions after the fact...they just say "There was no other way. It had to be done to save many other lives." They lie.

It's hard to stop a big military machine once it's in gear. Military men are always planning the next battle. That was a problem with both the Americans and the Japanese at the high command level, but the Japanese were basically running out of viable options by the middle of 1945.

- LH