OPTION 3

"No compromise can end [this] conflict....Only total victory can reward the champions of tolerance and decency and freedom and faith."
President Roosevelt

REASONS FOR THE ATTACK

• Sneak attack on Pearl Harbor
• "Bataan Death March"
• Torture of Allied prisoners
• Cannot accuse us of immoral behavior

PLAN OF ACTION

• "President Truman has a moral responsibility to use whatever means are at his disposal to save American lives."

PLAN OF ACTION

• Method of peace will likely result in large American casualties
• Dropping atomic weapons without warning is surest method of ending the war

PROS

• Distraction of cities leads leaders to surrender
• Most effective way to prevent American casualties
• Atomic bomb hardly represents escalation in level of violence
• Immediate surrender results in lasting peace

Untitled Slide

• "This is a war of extermination. The Japanese militarists have made it that way."