Culiacan Mexico
Posts: 8348
Joined: 11/10/2000 From: Bad Windsheim Germany Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: general billy By the way, did the US warn the japs that they were going to nuke a few of their cities if they didnt stop the war?? Yes. We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark. Anyway we "think" we have found the way to cause a disintegration of the atom. An experiment in the New Mexico desert was startling - to put it mildly. Thirteen pounds of the explosive caused the complete disintegration of a steel tower 60 feet high, created a crater 6 feet deep and 1,200 feet in diameter, knocked over a steel tower 1/2 mile away and knocked men down 10,000 yards away. The explosion was visible for more than 200 miles and audible for 40 miles and more. This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop that terrible bomb on the old capital or the new. He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the Japs to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful... Harry S. Truman, Diary, July 25, 1945 In May 1945, Manhattan Project officials set up a committee to pick the best targets. The committee examined the range of a fully loaded B-29, identified cities undamaged enough to serve as a measure of the bomb's destruction, examined weather conditions and considered the military value of potential targets. By late July, the group had a list of four cities: Kokura, which had one of Japan's largest munitions plants. Hiroshima, a major staging area for Japan's army and navy and the site of several industrial plants. Niigata, a major port on the Sea of Japan with an oil refinery, a tanker terminal and an iron works. Kyoto, the former capital of Japan, a major industrial city with plants producing parts for machinery, aircraft and artillery. Stimson wanted Kyoto off the list because of its religious and historical significance to Japan. Gen. Leslie Groves, head of the Manhattan Project, wanted Kyoto to remain on the list because he believed it was a legitimate military target, and because its huge size made it a good gauge for the effects of an atomic blast. Stimson overruled Groves, and Nagasaki was added in Kyoto's place. For the first mission, Hiroshima would be the primary target, Kokura would be the second choice and Nagasaki the third. On the second mission, Kokura would be the target, and Nagasaki would be the backup. Niigata was too far away to be a practical third choice.
< Message edited by Culiacan Mexico -- 7/19/2004 11:42:57 AM >
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