This clipping (The Militant-- a labour weekly)
shown here is from Feb. 25, 1963, and contains the words of Allen Dulles
regarding the issue of whether Japan tried to surrender prior to the bombing
of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in July of 1945 some weeks before the bombs were actually dropped.
The headline tells the story, and the part quoted from
the article, by M. L. Stafford reads as follows:
"From a number of sources, however, it has been
known for a long time that Japan was actually on the verge of surrender
when the atomic bombings were ordered.
"This fact has now been confirmed by a man in a
good position to know -- former CIA chief Allen Dulles.
"On the panel-interview program ‘Ladies of the
Press,' broadcast Jan. 19 over WOR-TV in New York, Dulles replied as
follows to questions put to him by Clifford Evans, the program's moderator
and producer:
"EVANS: ‘During World War II you came to the
Potsdam conference with information from the Japanese indicating the possibility
of a Japanese surrender. Do you think the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
was necessary?'
"DULLES: ‘I had been in touch with certain Japanese
in Switzerland who in turn were in touch with high quarters in Japan -
I imagine the Emperor. They came to me and said the Japanese were ready
to surrender provided the Emperor could be saved so as to have unity in
Japan. I took that word to Secretary [of State] Stimson at Potsdam on July
20, 1945... wiser men than I -- people who know the military situation
-- reached the decision.' "
and
Nagasaki in July of 1945 some weeks before the bombs were actually dropped.