Greg Mitchell / The Nation – 2013-07-09 00:35:19

http://portside.org/2013-07-07/day-1945-only-real-attempt-halt-atomic-bombing-japan

On This Day in 1945: The Only Real Attempt to Halt the Atomic Bombing of Japan
Greg Mitchell / The Nation

A clip from Sumner Jules Glimcher’s Hiroshima-Nagasaki 1945 archival footage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

(July 3, 2013) — On this date in 1945, the great atomic scientist Leo Szilard finished a letter that would become the strongest (and virtually the only) real attempt at halting President Truman’s march to using the atomic bomb-which was two weeks from its first test at Trinity-against Japanese cities.

Each summer, I count down the days to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, marking events from 1945 that spurred the decision to drop the two bombs, raising plenty of my own questions along the way. Last year, I wrote nearly daily articles for The Nation. Of course, I won’t do that again, but I thought I’d launch it here with the Szilard letter. Over the next five weeks or so you can check my Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »