The way people talk about war so matter of factly, as if it's not about actual human lives just sickens me to my core. "it's not a moral question, the amount of money we spent on this thing, it would be hard to justify not using it" What a way to talk about killing people

Arguments about ending the war aside, the use of the bombs is a blot on collective human history. Whether the war could have been ended quickly without the bomb is really unknown.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were chosen not because of their strategic military value, but for their lack of conventional bombing damage. Think about that. They were an experiment to test the effectiveness of nuclear weapons on real people. Every other fact is secondary to this. I understand why the American press doesn't want anyone to think about this. The plutonium core bomb dropped on Nagasaki is still used in modern thermal nuclear weapons as the detonator. The damage done to Nagasaki was the equivalent of the damage done by a blasting cap. Modern nuclear weapons are like the brick of C4.

Nagasaki and Hiroshima paved the way, a taboo was broken.

Japan was out of oil by August 1945. Running out of food. All of their cities were damaged or in ruins. Russia had just attacked. Japan's main criteria for surrender was to keep the Emperor - and they still have a hereditary Emperor today. There's no way the US would have invaded like they did on D-day, that's fantasy - and it's also General Eisenhower's informed view at the time. The war was over, even if not yet officially declared.

First time I have been so disappointed. Tuned in to hear some nuance and context about the bombs along with timely lessons for today and instead got some of the strangest, tone deaf comments I’ve heard on the subject. Atomic weapons were a “blessing” for the world as they gave us MAD? And just in case this was a slip of the tongue Thomas actually repeated it! I just want to remind Walter and his guest that humanity narrowly escaped full nuclear cataclysm by sheer luck and a few well-placed individuals who chose not to press the button, quite literally (Stanislav Petrov in 1983 most dramatically). It’s not that I’m unmindful of how the option to use atomic weapons went head to head with a truly horrific set choices to end the war. But I’ve come to believe that the use of the weapons to instantly vaporise two cities and their inhabitants cannot be thought of or discussed as business as usual. I’m actually writing this from Tokyo where the TV is discussing the atomic bombings on the Nagasaki. Japan has a much more nuanced view of these things than was evidenced here. Very poor. Why did Oppenheimer and Einstein have these feelings of anguish if it was an open and shut case of prosecution of war aims? Because humanity opened the doors to hell with these bombings and, far from being a blessing, they have cursed the survivors and world ever since. We would’ve been better served by a nuanced discussion of the cold realities and domino effect which led us there in 1945, together with a reflection on the horrific consequences for the victims and for our world right down to this day. Extremely disappointed.

Mr father too. I mighrhave been so different. Thank God for all of our servicemen.

Great interview

The incendiary bombing of Tokyo on March 9/10 1945, created the single largest firestorm in recorded history, killing 80-130,000 people, mostly civilians. .. The observation of the Commander of the mission, Curtis LeMay: “should we lose the war we’ll be tried as war criminals”

Always enjoy listening to Evan Thomas especially doing political commentary. Haven't heard much from him since "Inside Washington" went off the air which is too bad.

I read Wise Men when it came out! It's a great book. Post WW2 is a key moment in human history.

Please keep being how it has been. Be America. Don't change. That's the best thing for the rest of the world.

@AmanpourandCompany please upload the recent interview with Neal Katyal. Thank you

The short segment on Trueman's diary entry is intriguing. Was he lied to about women and children, was he delusional, or was he lying to history ?

"We made it. We had to use it. We found a reason to justify why this was ok. And then we reinforced our decision with the justification that they would have suffered worse had we done something else." Sick...

Good History Channel interview. This is thin academics, though.

It was Necessary to Drop it on Civilians!

Irs a shame of reality. The bravest cannot be negotiated with.

The dropping of the bombs was for Stalin. To let him know what we possessed. BTW who reached Berlin first? Russia or America?

It makes me sick to hear such blatant justification of targeting and killing children. There are always other options.

“I am sure that at the end of the world, in the last millisecond of the Earth’s existence, Man will see what we have just seen.” - George Kistiakowsky, after seeing the first atomic test “Trinity” July 16, 1945 
(Kistiakowsky was in charge of the non-nuclear explosives section of the Manhattan Project which designed the “implosion” detonation system. He spent his final years campaigning for nuclear disarmament.)

I wonder, had the war extended in Germany, would they have used this weapon? We must realize , whatever the justifications both sides are harmed in the long run due to collateral radiation.

The wise men was a good book. Read it.

Great interview. Walter, when you said, "... Now, you're in the middle of a book about the dropping of the bomb..." are you referring to a new book that Evan Thomas is currently writing? Any details on when it might be released or its title? Thanks!

Glad this generation of Twitter whinners in the comment section wasn't around in WW2. They would be giving food trucks to the Nazis, and Uber eats.

This is all happy horse ka-ka

Wow I am supprized they kept history and didn't try to wash it off as not necessary like so many do. Great segment

My father worked on the atomic bomb as a nuclear engineer I’m very proud of what he did and yes we did need to drop the bomb. I believe the reason we were in such a hurry was because of Nazi Germany even though he mentions Russia. Nazi Germany had gone into Russia and everywhere else and could’ve come to get us next.