James Devine wrote:
>
>
> the grunts didn't know that an invasion of Japan wasn't really
> necessary, since Japan was trying to surrender anyway. The
> Japanese elite wanted to keep its emperor, but the US wanted
> "unconditional surrender." In the end, despite the A-bombs,
> the Japanese kept their emperor.
>
What I've often wondered is whether even the invasion of Okinawa was
necessary? It is hard even to arrive at a rough estimate of the millions
that have died as a result of the U.S. focus on "unconditional
surrender." (That seems to have been one of the sticking point even in
the two wars the U.S. lost -- Korea & Vietnam. The eventual settlements
could have been arrived at must sooner had the U.S. not clung to its
unrealistic goal.)
I think it is debatable whether the war in Europe had to go beyond the
successful establishment of the Normany invasion. What might have been
the result of a really open invitation to the Germans to negotiate?
Carrol
