and of the strategic bomber force in the theater. LeMay immediately implemented a strategy of massive attacks against civilian targets--Japanese cities. As was true in Germany, these attacks served primarily to shore up Japanese resolve ("Raids Failed" 9). Some military commanders advise the use of atomic bombs on Japanese cities to crush the Japanese will to fight (Truman 419). Other military authorities, however, report that Japan is already a beaten nation (Wheeler 16). Incendiary bombing attacks have destroyed 2.5 million houses on the main islands, and more than 13 million Japanese are now homeless. Further, General LeMay contends that the Japanese population is starving, and that a combination of continuing the present air raids and the passage of time will cause the Japanese government to accept the terms of unconditional surrender; however, General George Marshall disagrees with this assessment. General Marshall contends that the performance of the Japanese in the battle for Okinawa, an integral part of the Japanese nation, demonstrates that resistance will be even greater in the defense of the country's main islands (Feifer 574-575). Based on the Japanese defense of Okinawa, many military leaders, including General Marshall, think that use of the atomic bomb against will be necessary to secure a quick acceptance by the Japanese government of the terms of an unconditional surrender.
Strong arguments are made by some military leaders that use of the atomic bomb against Japan is necessary to save the lives of possibly hundreds of thousand of American troops who would otherwise be killed in an invasion of the main Japanese islands (Feifer 572). This opinion is supported by an order of the Japanese cabinet mobilizing the general public in Japan to form a civilian volunteer to resist invasion ("Cabinet Approves" 2; "Speed Organization" 2). The popular press in the United States is replete with stories contending that Jap...