Anecdotal appeals to authority are hopeless.
At the time, plenty of people saw that the unconditional surrender demand was unreasonable and prolonging the war. It has been issued in order to keep the wartime allies united, especially to prevent any last minute splits in dealing with Germany. Its application to Japan was required mostly by stubbornness and a desire of the pols involved to appear powerful and consistent to their own populace. Not exactly mortal considerations when in the balance with millions of lives.
It is ludicruous to pretend Japan was still any threat to the allied powers. It was necessary to finish the war, certainly. That is all.
The key issue was the political opposition to surrender within Japan. In case everyone forgot, the military staged a coup against the surrender even after the bombings - it didn't make *them* willing to surrender. It did make the emperor willing.
The Japanese had the delusional hope at the time that the Russians might remain neutral and help them negotiate a peace on terms better than unconditional surrender. That prop was knocked away when the Russians invaded Manchuria, in the same week as the bombings. Loss of that hope, from Russia's entry, plus an offer to keep the emperor but otherwise surrender unconditionally, might have been accepted.
Or it might not have been. But not to even offer it, even by back channels?
It is much harder to justify that. In fact it is impossible, in my opinion. Justice during war includes the requirement of a good faith willingness to parley in order to end it, if all the political aims of the war can be achieved without further killing.
Sorry, my father in law was not only personally present and a witness to the events - your "anecdotal witness" - he was also a teacher (and high school principal) and a devoted student of history. His conclusions were drawn not only from his personal experience but from years of study and reflection. Because my undergraduate degree was in military history, we spent many hours discussing these issues and reading books together before his untimely death.
The supposed 'many' who saw an easy way out were conspicuous by their silence at the time. The cold (and cold-hearted) analysis from the safe haven of the freedoms that were bought with American blood is what is hopeless here. They did not have the knowledge we do -- they did not have the more refined weapons we do -- they did not have the time that we do.
>>> No, I haven’t lost historical perspective. I’ve studied the issue with care. <<<
Well, so have I and many others. Join the club, brother!
>>> Anecdotal appeals to authority are hopeless.
At the time, plenty of people saw that the unconditional surrender demand was unreasonable and prolonging the war. <<<
Anonymous appeals to unnamed authorities are pretty hopeless, too. Don’t ya think?
>>> It [unconditional surrender demand] has been issued in order to keep the wartime allies united, especially to prevent any last minute splits in dealing with Germany. <<<
And you don’t think that THIS should be a major consideration when resolving a 6-year world war? Astonishing.
>>> It is ludicruous to pretend Japan was still any threat to the allied powers. <<<
Tell that to the Nationalist Chinese government, one of our allies at the time. The JIA had over a million soldiers in China when “Little Boy” was dropped on Hiroshima.
>>> It was necessary to finish the war, certainly. That is all. <<<
Finishing a war can be a very tricky thing. Think of the stupidity of Versailles and what lead up to it. The French and the English made a mess of things, don’t ya think?
>>> The Japanese had the delusional hope at the time that the Russians might remain neutral and help them negotiate a peace on terms better than unconditional surrender. That prop was knocked away when the Russians invaded Manchuria, in the same week as the bombings. Loss of that hope, from Russia’s entry, plus an offer to keep the emperor but otherwise surrender unconditionally, might have been accepted. <<<
C’mon, stop regurgitating ol’ commie agitprop by Gar Alperovitz. It’s embarrassing.
In fact, the Japanese military had the delusional hope that they could pull a victory out of the mess they had made of the Pacific War by having a “final battle” between them and us. Kind of a replay of the 1905 Battle of Tsushima, don’t ya know. Luckily, Truman decided to forego their suicidal desire by dropping the A-bombs. Thusly: No Operation DOWNFALL=no “final battle”=lots and lots of US, Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian etc. lives saved.
>>> Justice during war includes the requirement of a good faith willingness to parley in order to end it, if all the political aims of the war can be achieved without further killing. <<<
That’s one heck of a big IF. And as for “parleys,” you have yet to establish that Roosevelt and Truman weren’t acting in good faith with US Allies and the American people when they demanded an unconditional surrender.