Polls

USS Liberty: Cover Up

by James Bamford

Editor's Note: The following is a selection from Mr. Bamford's newest book, Body of Secrets, which has reignited interest in the story of the USS Liberty.(Click here to read a negative review of the book in the New Republic.Click here to read Mr. Bamford's response to the criticism he's received.) Early in the morning of Thursday June 8, 1967 th

USS Liberty: Israel Did Not Intend to Bomb the Ship

by A. Jay Cristol

Editor's Note: This summer HNN devoted a special edition to Israel's attack on the USS Liberty in 1967 during the Six Day War, which resulted in the deaths of 34 Americans. Israel insists the attack was an accident. Many others contend it was deliberate, among them, James Bamford, author of Body of Secrets., which has attracted a

Truman on Trial: Philip Nobile Responds to the Jury

"You have got to understand that [the atomic bomb] isn't a military weapon. It is used to wipe out women and children and unarmed people, and not for military uses." Harry S Truman, discussing atomic bomb on during July 21, 1948, National Security Council meeting on Berlin Blockade as recorded in The Journals of David E.Lilienthal, 1945-1950 (1964) The seven historians who voted Harry S. Truman not guilty have proved the tenacity of the Nuremb

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by R. John Pritchard

Notwithstanding the many defects in the arguments put forward by the Defense, and without condoning or approving the conduct of the United States Government or of the several accused, in my judgment the Prosecution's case is unproved beyond reasonable doubt against Harry S. Truman and his co-defendants on the charges of war crimes and conspiracy to commit war crimes laid against them connected with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They are therefore acquitted on all charges.

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by Oscar B. Chamberlain

This"trial" was a deep disappointment. Each scholar brought salient facts to the table. Sadly, each also brought a pervasive contempt for anyone who could come to a different conclusion. In their contempt for each other, they showed contempt for their audience as well. As a result, neither made a compelling case. A tie goes to the defense; therefore,"not guilty" was the only possible verdict. On a personal level, the trial did have one positive result. Critiquing the statements led m

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by Richard Jensen

I see three major problems with Nobile's indictment: First he is being legalistic, so let's also be legalistic and look at the text of the Nuremberg charter which he quotes:...it outlawed"the wanton destruction of cities, towns, and villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity." Nobile silently switches from" cities" to" civilians" but let's look at the text and think about" cities." Were the Japanese cities a significant part of the Jap

Truman on Trial: Undecided

by Arnold A. Offner

Alas, I must insist that I be counted as a"hung juror." I believe that Philip Nobile's prosecutor's argument is too weak to allow for conviction of President Truman for war crimes, while Ronald Radosh's defense arguments are weaker still, combining flimsy arguments and evidence with ad hominem attacks on"revisionist" historians. Nobile's arguments are too literal and sweeping: Truman and all those around him are guilty of war crimes for causing wanton destruction of cities and villages

Truman on Trial: The Defense, Closing Argument

by Ronald Radosh

Philip Nobile is correct to note that I did not answer the question of whether or not Harry S. Truman was a war criminal by accepting his terms of the argument; i.e., whether or not on legal grounds using the A-bomb on Hiroshima constitutes a crime of war. I did so because I find this to be a largely academic and irrelevant exercise. It is based largely on the horrible effect that the single bomb had on the Japanese population, and ignores the context of the decision. As I tried to argue, that c

Truman on Trial: The Prosecution, Closing Argument

by Philip Nobile

As Ronald Radosh's opening statement amply proves, it is not easy to defend premeditated massacres of women and children in wartime under international law. Although Radosh offered, in effect, a nolo contendere plea for his client at Nuremberg, he did make some comments on the war crimes issue in his meandering and largely smimmaterial defense. Let's take a closer look."The essence of Nobile's case is based on a highly legalistic and a-historical citation of Article 6 of The Nuremberg Charter

Jefferson's Heirs Try to Bury the Past

by Ruth Rosen

Who really belongs to the American family? Have we finally achieved an inclusive, colorblind society? Or, does the legacy of slavery still exclude African Americans from full membership in American society? Here is one recent answer to these painful and divisive questions. After three rancorous years of debate, the Monticello Association -- a group of white descendants of Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Martha -- voted overwhelmingly last week to deny the descendants of the slave Sally Hemi

IBM: And that’s How the Trains Ran on Time

by Edwin Black

When Hitler came to power, the world saw a menace to humanity. But IBM saw Nazi Germany as a lucrative trading partner. Quickly, its president Thomas J. Watson engineered a strategic business alliance between IBM and the Reich, beginning in the first days of the Hitler regime and continuing right through WWII. This alliance instantly catapulted Nazi Germany to become IBM's most important customer outside the US. As part of that strategic alliance, IBM and the Nazis jointly designed, and IBM excl

The Reparations Shakedown

by Chris Weinkopf

IT WAS JESSE JACKSON who, years ago, perfected the art of the racial shakedown. Preying on white guilt and corporate America’s visceral fear of bad publicity, he would make the rounds of some of the nation’s biggest companies, question why there weren’t more black faces in the workrooms, and drop a few unsubtle hints about boycotts or making his" concerns" public. That was all it ever took. Soon thereafter, the company would sign a pledge committing itself to more"diversity," which it wou

Column: The Worst Day in Our History Was the Day Jefferson Lost the Slavery Debate

by William Thompson

The recent display of Osama bin Laden's cheer and joy is reminiscence of Adolph Hitler's little dance of happiness when he heard of his armies successes in France. It probably solidifies in many minds the notion that September 11 was the worse day in American History, and that Bin Laden is historically the arch enemy number one. I dissent partially--regarding the first point. One of our prominent state governors of the modern era gave a press conference one day after it had been publ

Should Yale Apologize for Slavery?

by Alfred L. Brophy

Three graduate students at Yale University have rained on the parade of that university's 300th anniversary by bringing to light Yale's involvement with holding and trading slaves in the nineteenth century. Many of Yale's colleges and buildings are named after slaveowners. Even John C. Calhoun, the most notorious pro-slavery thinker of them all, has a college named after him there. Yale is not alone here. Profits from the harsh slave plantations of the Caribbean funded Harvard Law School'

Truman on Trial: Guilty

by Brian Madison Jones

Defense counsel Ron Radosh suggests that a case"based on a highly legalistic and a-historical citation of Article 6 of the Nuremberg Charter" is insufficient to convict Harry Truman of war crimes for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Just as the Nazis and the Japanese were liable for war crimes, Truman is guilty for"violations of the laws or customs of war" through the"wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity."

Truman on Trial: Guilty

by Jonathan Dresner

The arguments presented by Nobile and Radosh, stripped of their scholarly references, can be summed up as follows: Prosecution:"That wasn't a nice thing to do." Defense:"But it worked, didn't it?" Prosecution:"It wasn't necessary." Defense:"Yes it was." [Insert iterations of"no it wasn't","yes it was" ad naseum] Prosecution:"There are rules against this sort of thing." Defense:"They did nasty stuff first." Prosecution:"That's no excuse." Defense:"We didn't t

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by Jeff Tenuth

We all wish the atomic bombings had never taken place; not only because of the resultant horrors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also because they started the nuclear arms race that have place our world in peril ever since. Having said that, it is the reality of World War II that we are dealing with, not our current opinions on the immorality of nuclear weapons. Our current opinions have no place in a trial like this. If we look at the circumstances under which President Truman made his d

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by LCDR James R. Van de Velde

The attack on the civilian-dominated cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have been barbarous, brutal, and perhaps even unnecessary to effect a surrender from Japan, but it is hard to argue that they were wanton, superfluous, irrelevant to the timing of surrender and apart from the war aim of shortening the war and effecting the Allied Powers' goal of unconditional surrender from Japan. It is not enough to argue that the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not necessary to effect a su

Truman on Trial: Not Guilty

by Larry Schweikart

It is a good thing I am called a judge, because if I were a juror, regardless of how the judge ruled, I would engage in"jury nullification." On purely hypothetical grounds, I reject the entire concept of"war crimes" as being separate and distinct acts of violence, the same way I reject"hate crimes" as being different from acts. But as to the specifics: Not only did Nobile fail to prove that the dropping of the bombs were not required by"military necessity," even the evidence he offered-

Hitler's Gamble with Destiny, 1941

by Michael Richards

Sixty years ago, in August and September of 1941, the fate of the world appeared to hang in the balance. Adolf Hitler, gambling recklessly with the destiny of the German nation, had launched the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in quest of world domination. It seemed certain that he would win his gamble and destroy the Soviet Union. The German invasion of the Soviet Union was probably the most important event of World War II. There is no doubt it shaped the remainder of the 20th centur