Ep. 5360 – Josiah Lippincott on the Wholesale Slaughter of Japanese Civilians in WWII – 9/11/202

Scott interviews Josiah Lippincott about the conventional narrative surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. The common argument, says Lippincott, is that the U.S. had no real choice but to drop the bombs, since the alternative would have been a ground invasion that ultimately would have cost many more lives. In reality, he explains, the Japanese had been willing to negotiate for months, but the American government, insisting on an unconditional surrender, wouldn’t concede Japan’s only demand, which was to let the emperor remain on the throne. Ironically, after the bombings, when Japan still didn’t look ready to surrender, General MacArthur decided to allow the Japanese surrender while keeping the emperor nominally at the head of his country. This of course raises the question: why couldn’t we have negotiated a peace long before dropping the bombs that claimed the lives of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens?

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