Simulation_of_James_Bryant_Conant_and_His_Position_on_the_Nuclear_Bomb_Against_Japan

James Bryant Conant – Simulation (Use of Atomic Bombs on Japan) Mr. President, I had been delegated by Stimson as you may already be aware in the special committee, the Interim Committee, to evaluate and consider whether the atomic bomb should be used and if so when and where it would be deployed. As an advisor (scientific adv.) for the committee here are my recommendations for this issue I have followed during many years now. The United States, along with our allies, have recently defeated Nazi Germany with overall success. This will never be forgotten and this is history in the making. Now we must push forward with the war and deal with the decisions to be made to the best of our capacities. We must now learn from what happened in our experience in Europe (Nazi); keeping in mind the lives that were taken in order to secure the welfare of our allies abroad and most importantly America. In the pressing conflict with Japan, time is of an issue. We must act critically but efficiently as well. Keeping in mind 2 aspects, decisions making to the best of our ability/capacity and time as a factor, here are my propositions as your scientific advisor. I strongly believe that there are no alternatives at the present to effectively resolve the military conflict with Japan to replace the use of the atomic bombs. Nuclear weaponry is likely to bring the fastest end to hostilities with the minimum loss of American lives. There is much controversy to how the use of the atomic bomb will have effect on our international relations with our allies overseas. Respectfully, Mr. President, I would like to say that my associate Vannevar Bush and I (both being scientists) in the previous year have been put in the dark on much of the diplomatic issues dealt with the atomic project. Nonetheless, we both felt the need to our opinions on diplomatic and post-war issues. This is why we joined with Stimson on the Interim committee. I have amongst others from the committee have reached to the conclusions that the use of the new weapon will in turn promote our international relations overall. At the same time, like I stated before, it will indefinitely save American lives during the Japanese War. I recommend that before we use the bombs we advise Britain, France, China, and Russia about our great strides in the nuclear race; mentioning its potential use in this present war. We would recommend inviting them to provide is suggestions on how we can collaborate in making this development expand our international relations. For the issue of warning the Japanese it is important that we don’t. I’m for their surrender of course. If we can resolve this without anymore military intervention, so be it. But if more military conflict is necessary after their potential rebuttal to surrendering than there are no alternatives other than using the new weapon. I also agree with the secretary of the state, James F. Byrnes, that if the Japanese are told the exact locality of the drop zones for the bombs they will move all the American POWs in those locations. The main reason is to save American lives not kill more. In conclusion, nuclear weaponry is likely to prevail against Japan with minimum loss of American lives. Why would America turn its back on such an opportunity' Time is of the essence, and I, James Bryant Conant, understand the atomic bomb’s true purpose. It is feasible and is going to lead to decisive results in the war; possibly ending it at the push of a button. This weaponry is not only capable of providing never before seen physical power but it will also allow America the upper hand with psychological power against any enemies such as Japan or any other nation threatening the welfare of the United States in the foreseen future. This is why I recommend it is imperative that the atomic weaponry is used against Japan if they do not surrender at our command. Thank you for your time today Mr. President. References http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/do_history/decisions/hiroshima.html http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/index.php