Speculation on the impossible

The thought-provoking article "Forty Years Later, Reasons Why Korean War Ended Still Baffle Many Scholars," July 30, contains a remarkable quotation attributed to former Attorney General Herbert Brownell. He is reported to have explained that the Soviet Union could cite as proof of United States racial prejudice that "the US never used the atomic bomb against the Germans. They only did it against colored people."

Surely, Mr. Brownell must have known that the war against Germany was over by May 8, 1945, while the atomic bomb did not become a reality until after a successful test on July 16. Whether or not the US would have used the bomb against Germany may be debatable, but it could not possibly have done so when it did not possess it. Ernest P. Uiberall, Alexandria, Va.

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