Re:What God will say to them (Score 2, Interesting)

It appears as though "Scholarly work" is limited to that which you have read and agree with. Nothing in your assertions suggest that you are well read on the Pacific theater in the Second World War. I would cite the works of the Pulitzer winning biography by Herbert P. Bix on the Emperor Hirohito in which he specifically listed three failed opportunities by the Japanese to seek an end to the war prior to the decision to use the atomic bomb. I would also suggest that you read "Downfall" by Richard B. Frank concerning the final six months of the war in the Pacific in order to review not only the anticipated casualties in the event of the necessity for an invasion of the Japanese islands. I would finally suggest that you read "The Hiroshima Cult" by Robert P Newman in which he eviscerates Gar Alperovitz's silly revisionist opinions. I have found over the years that those who criticize the decision have read only material which seems to support their opinion, ignoring more recent works which use much more current information made available from relaxation due to freedom of information act, as well as additional declassification of government records and documents.