He is so full of himself that he thinks he can just speak and change the world.

The fucker really is delusional.

How... cosmopolitan of him.

Maybe, just maybe they were wrong.  We found out after the Japanese surrender that the invasion beaches we intended to  use were fortified to a degree that made Omaha beach look easy.  We had no idea at the time.

We also found out--post-occupation-- that the Japanese had a LOT more trained troops available than we first thought.  We had no idea at the time.

It was also revealed that the Japanese had a wide array of suicide attack methods and vehicles available to them on Invasion day.  Some of them were midget submarines, some of them were the local population organized into militia units pledged-and trained-- to take out at least one GI before dying for the Emperor.  Some of them were soldiers given primitive underwater breathing apparatus, and stationed in very shallow water.  their goal was to submerge just before an invading assault craft passed over them, and to rise up to its' bottom, and detonate their chest-carried explosive device.  We had no idea at the time.

It was also unknown to Allied commanders just how much fuel, and just how many Kamikaze aircraft were stashed away.  Post invasion, the numbers horrified the occupiers.

There is also the Japanese expertise in chemical and germ warfare to consider.  Such experts were sent to Japan long before the anticipated invasion, and presumably, some of their products, which would certainly have been used against invading forces.  

To be fair, the Allied forces were equipped with roughly equivalent chemical weapons, but not germs.  This would have been a retaliation weapon, but since the Japanese were ready to go all-out in defense, it is reasonable to assume they would have employed every weapon at their disposal in defense of their sacred Homeland, and their even more sacred Emperor.

Let's make sure of one thing:  The Japanese society was a military dictatorship, which built on the long-standing belief that the Emperor was the Foundation of the nation, and unquestioning obedience was not merely the NORM, but reinforced in every way possible.  The Japanese had "Thought Police" to make sure nobody deviated from the dictated policy.

We can also be certain of the fact that the invasion, absent the Bomb, would have been a blood-letting of a completely unprecedented. level.  EVERY Japanese subject, capable of doing harm to the invader would have been expected to do so.  If there is any doubt about this, witness the newsreels of the non-combatants on Okinowa hurling themselves onto the ocean rocks rather than surrender to the GIs begging them to save themselves.

It is true that Japan's major cities had been burned-out before the Bomb was dropped.  While this made further production of war materials very difficult, the Japanese reckoned that they had enough stashed to fend off an Invasion.  More in next post .

Next post.

We left the Japanese in the previous post very prepared to attack the invaders on the beaches, and ready to employ weapons, of types not previously seen (and so, for which no countermeasures were made by the Allies) at their disposal in vast quantities.

Most military experts, looking at the forces/numbers/weapons involved have considered the Invasion of Japan to have been a bloodbath of nearly biblical devastation.  

To move forward a bit:

The Bomb allowed the Emperor of Japan to ensure that His nation would survive.

After the bombing of the Japanese cities campaign had been completed, Japan's future war production capacity was devastated.  In addition, the Japanese food harvest was the worst in many years.  The Japanese were already on near starvation diets pre-Bomb.

So, suppose the Bomb wasn't available.  The next step in the pre-invasion Allied bombing plan was to bomb the smaller cities--not many of them-- AND then bomb the Japanese road and rail system into oblivion.  Given the rather primitive nature of their road system, and their small, concentrated rail system, with a few vulnerabile bridges, the Allies figured that a complete transportation  disruption plan would take about a week, with regular follow-ups.

Mind, you, this is all very much pre-Invasion by many months.

What this would have done is make the already starvation-level Japanese food supply extremely difficult to distribute to those who needed it the most.  Mass Japanese starvation would have happened.  With mass starvation deaths, various disease outbreaks could be expected.  

So much for the Non-Bomb scenario.

With the advent of the Bomb, the Emperor, Hirohito, could rightly claim that His nation faced a new weapon, and from which it faced extinction, not merely defeat.

That is why the Emperor ordered his subjects to surrender.  He feared his nation's extinction.

FWIW, there were plenty of Japanese die-hards that demanded a fight to the death was the only path open to a true Japanese.  There was actually a Palace revolt, with Japanese military officers and troops favoring a "One Death, One Honor" firing on Japanese officers and troops loyal to the Emperor.

This was after the flattening of the Japanese cities by conventional bombing, the sinking of almost all of their Navy and commercial vessels, and the Japanese being reduced to starvation rations.

The A-Bombs  allowed the Emperor a way out, and since we wisely allowed Him to remain a figurehead, allowed the Allied forces to occupy Japan with nary a shot fired.  

There were some die-hards, mostly Kanikaze pilots, with their unit commander, that took off despite orders, and never heard from.  There were also a LOT of Japanese officers--and enlisted-- that killed themselves rather than surrender.

The A-Bomb allowed the Japanese Emperor the perfect opportunity to surrender before His Empire was totally destroyed,  His fear of His Japanese race being destroyed--as was distinctly possible-- allowed Him to make an unprecedented move, and the rest is history.

Final post upcoming.

I did not know Mac had a "psyops" advisor. Please give his name and citation for his quote.   You  argue, with the latter point of your unsubstantiated post, that the US dropped the Bomb in order to overawe the Soviets. Did any of the Military commanders you cite have the exact same information, both military and diplomatic, as Truman?  I'm certain that they did not, and so their opinions are ill-informed.

Leaving the above to the side, is it arguable that a Japan under US post-war guidance would be inferior to some sort of Japanese State split asunder, with the soviets in charge of part of it, and the Allies in charge of the rest?  

But leaving nukes out of it altogether, are you saying Invading Japan, with the concomitant bloodbath that would surely have happened as a result is something that you are OK with?

Personally, I value human life more than that.   I'm astonished that you care so little about the millions of human beings that would surely have perished during an invasion of the Japanese islands.

This is the sort of "Blame America' sort of argument that we have heard so many times.  I'll have none of it in this instance.  I've read too much to be misled otherwise.

You should be ashamed of yourself. particularly on Memorial Day.