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Originally Posted by ShadoWarrior
MacArthur was one of the biggest proponents for invading the Home Islands. The same bloody-minded fellow who needlessly wasted thousands of lives retaking the strategically unimportant Philippines just to fuel his own ego.
Those Rand figures are close to the figures cited in the Wiki article for what the JCS came up with in mid-1945. I don't put a lot of weight on "some of the sources quoted have been under fire for some time concerning their conclusions" when some of the folks debating such things still persist in believing that the atomic bombs won the war when the preponderance of evidence points otherwise.
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The two atomic bombs were, in and of themselves, not decisive weapons. Operation Musketeer, the B-29 low-level incendiary raids, did a lot more damage and killed far more Japanese then the A-Bombs. It was the sheer shock value of their use on top of the events of the last two years of the war that tipped the scales and gave the Japanese the push to surrender.
Far, far too many Western historians take the view that nuking Japan is what caused the surrender. In Japan's official military history, the Strategic Bombing Survey and numerous interviews with Japanese military and civilians, the point was made that the use of atomic bombs was simply the "straw that broke the camel's back".
And please....don't get me started on "Dug-Out Doug"...it spoils my lunch!