I remember when in the Pacific the word spread that the bombs had been dropped, 99.9% of...
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Gore Vidal:
I remember when in the Pacific the word spread that the bombs had been dropped, 99.9% of us were delighted, because we had been convinced that, if Japan was not hit by nuclear weapons, a million of us would be killed. Drop those bombs and they will surrender. But they were trying to surrender all that summer. But Truman wouldn't listen; he wanted to drop the bombs. To show off. To frighten Stalin. To change the balance of power in the world. To declare war on Communism
I remember when in the Pacific the word spread that the bombs had been dropped, 99.9% of us were delighted, because we had been convinced that, if Japan was not hit by nuclear weapons, a million of us would be killed. Drop those bombs and they will surrender. But they were trying to surrender all that summer. But Truman wouldn't listen; he wanted to drop the bombs. To show off. To frighten Stalin. To change the balance of power in the world. To declare war on Communism
Full Transcript
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VIDAL I can remember in the Pacific
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when the word spread that the bombs had been dropped
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99 9 of us were delighted
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because we'd been convinced that
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if Japan was not hit by nuclear weapons
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one million of us would be killed
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Drop those bombs and they will surrender
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Well they were trying to surrender all that summer
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but Truman wouldn't listen because Truman wanted to drop the bombs
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MAN Why
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To show off To frighten Stalin
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To change the balance of power in the world
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To declare war on Communism
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Movie Summary
Is American foreign policy dominated by the idea of military supremacy? Has the military become too important in American life? Jarecki's shrewd and intelligent polemic would seem to give an affirmative answer to each of these que...
