materials, they said,
which prevented its construction. In the meantime, the Germans were
said to have carried the discovery to a further stage and were about to
initiate such bombing. The Americans were reputed to have learned the
secret from the Germans, and they had then brought the bomb to a stage
of industrial completion.

We have discussed among ourselves the ethics of the use of the bomb.
Some consider it in the same category as poison gas and were against
its use on a civil population. Others were of the view that in total
war, as carried on in Japan, there was no difference between civilians
and soldiers, and that the bomb itself was an effective force tending
to end the bloodshed, warning Japan to surrender and thus to avoid
total destruction. It seems logical to me that he who supports total
war in principle cannot complain of war against civilians. The crux of
the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable,
even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and
spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good that
might result? When will our moralists give us a clear answer to this
question?

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