Letters to the Editor.

Zinn Hits Home on Hiroshima

Thanks for the great article by Howard Zinn in the August issue ("The Bombs of August"). It reminded me of an item I recently ran across in my files. I clipped it from the front page of The Wall Street Journal thirty-five years ago:

"Japan sought to settle World War II peacefully a year before surrendering, State Department documents released yesterday showed. Japan made an informal overture to Sweden, which informed the U.S. and Britain. The U.S. reminded Sweden that Allied terms were unconditional surrender, and Sweden then told Japan it would be useless to relay lesser offers."

If the United States had successfully pursued this peace feeler, it might have given heart to the dissident German leadership and led to an earlier peace in Europe, too. Then both the divided Korea and the divided Germany would have been avoided.

Norman B. Gesner Sanford, Florida

Is Zinn Wrong?

My only problem with Howard Zinn's analysis is that he may be wrong. A variety of sources indicate that the Japanese were preparing a last ditch, every-citizen-is-a-soldier approach to defeating an invasion.

Suicide craft were stockpiled, the Japanese public had been alerted as to its role, and the average citizen was instructed by the Emperor to "endure the unendurable."

Seeing both sides of the atomic bomb question doesn't necessarily mean I support more recent military debacles. On these, I often side with Zinn.

Finally, given the apparently fallen nature of human beings, it isn't clear to me why Zinn expects greedy, ambitious, and increasingly craven politicians to act in other than their own best interests. Holding politicians accountable at the ballot box is designed to result in more or less sane policies. If, and that is a big if, we are capable of self-government, then the underlying morality of society would act as a counterweight to bombing aspiring factories in the Sudan or cities in Japan.

Bill Wilmeth Ogden, Utah

Sentencing the Disabled to Poverty

In his otherwise excellent piece on the disability system's disincentives in regard to employment ("Getting to Work," August issue), Kenny Fries leaves out one important aspect of the problem.

From its inception, the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program has allowed a maximum monthly stipend of only 73 percent of the poverty level (currently $512) for single adult recipients. For "dual eligibles" like Fries (Social Security Disability Income with an SSI supplement), the stipend equals...