IN “HOW THE BOMB WAS Spun” (8/18), Elliott Negin eviscerates the Washington Post. But, despite his reliance on “eminent historians” and “a noted historian” and even “professional historians,” he never actually produces any evidence that the bomb should not have been dropped.

It’s easy, sitting in cozy civilian comfort, for someone to second-guess 50 years after the fact. But, when the emperor went on the radio to tell his people that the war was over, he said it was because the Americans had “a cruel bomb.”

No one, “eminent” or “noted” or “professional,” can contend that the use of the weapon did not save some American lives.

Question, Mr. Negin: How many of us would you have killed to turn history around…to keep the bombs from dropping? For the moment, pretend that you are Harry S (no period; he had no middle name) Truman. Crank into your equation, if you like, the fact that we would have killed far more Japanese by fire-bombing, had the war gone on for another year. But just answer the straightforward question: How many of us would you have killed?

Downtown