It's not often mentioned, but the atomic bombs probably saved several million Japanese lives as well. Brainwashed as they were, the Japanese civilians, man woman and child, would have fought to the death to defend the Home Islands from what they had been told were the American Monsters.

My late uncle was in the Pacific War, and he told me how his shipmates were terrified that the Japanese government wouldn't surrender, because the entire population would have fought like demons against an American invasion. It would have been the greatest bloodbath in history, for both sides.

I am no great fan of Harry Truman, but, horrible as it was, I think his decision to use nuclear bombs was the right one.