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Evaluate the wisdom of American insistence on the positive Surrender of Japan.IntroductionThe United States of America is a state of warrior democracy. To pretend otherwise ignores a realmal history colored in red blood and throttle valve smoke. Despite this, the American national conscience seeks forever the moral high ground. This national need extends to Americas ability to wage and sustain war. population War II was no exception. The Call to Arms came only after Japans killing of unprepared men in Pearl Harbor. The nation did not see the attack as an attack on a legitimate target but as an immoral attack. Giving in to its warrior spirit, the nation looked for retribution. Unable to shake a conscience developed and tempered by its early religious heritage, though, the nation needed more justification than mere penalize for the coming actions it would take. Americas policy of flavourless Surrender provided this justification. Implied in unconditional Surrender was the con cept of Unconditional Warfare total war. Further implied in the concept of total war was the justification for a fully violent and vengeful response. America needed the moral justification implied in the policy of Unconditional Surrender.Elegant Violence Japanese v. American views on WarfareTo the Japanese, the concept of Unconditional Surrender was a nightmare. The Japanese government had instilled in its people the thinking that Unconditional Surrender to American forces would involve horrendous tortures and degradations. Whether or not the Japanese government actually believed their own war propaganda, there was concern among the Japanese leadership that Unconditional Surrender would mean the end of Japan as a nation-state due to the expected American dismantling of the Japanese Imperial formation (Freedman 201).The American publics perception of Unconditional Surrender was not necessarily the perception of the nations leaders, though. In fact, most post-war planners in capit al letter saw Americas Unconditional Surrender policy as flexible (James 725) . However, the President did not choose to share his actual views on Unconditional Surrender with the public. To do so, would have been to negate the violent imperative behind Americas total war against Japan.Japanese and American perceptions of total war were much more in accord. Both the Japanese and American military cultures had strange and sometimes conflicting ideas about legitimate actions and targets. Both cultures could justify horrific carnage and destruction in the pursuit of victory. That being said, the Japanese militarys almost fanatic devotion to Mahanian warfare mixed with their own Samurai canon meant that, many times during the war, Japanese commanders passed up incredible targets of opportunities deeming them not worthy enough.