A-bomb not a necessity

Hal Dixon (Aug. 22) reports on popular legend because he reads history with a lazy eye.

Before President Franklin Roosevelt attended the conference at Yalta, Gen. Douglas MacArthur advised him that the surrender of Japan was imminent, or Japan would perish by thirst, starvation and disease. MacArthur’s claim was backed up by infallible reconnaissance, which made the invasion of Japan a mere contingency.

President Harry Truman met with Soviet Premier Josef Stalin at Potsdam, where he learned about the Japanese overture for surrender, and also learned about the successful test at Alamogordo.

I agree with Dixon: The savagery of the two atomic bombs was no greater than the savagery of the Japanese war machine. Both MacArthur and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower were opposed to dropping the bombs on Japan because it served no purpose except to advertise our top secret.

Dropping the atomic bombs let the cat out of the bag. The nuclear arms race was on, threatening mankind and the planet we live on. We are the masters of a kept secret, but of the unkept secret we are the slave.

Rich Magney

Spokane