In October 1948 Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal, himself a former Secretary of the Navy, asked the JCS to examine the impact on the Soviet Union if all the bombs were delivered. The Harmon Committee completed its report in May 1949 and concluded that the planned atomic attack on seventy Soviet cities would not, “per se, bring about capitulation, destroy the roots of Communism, or critically weaken the power of the Soviet leadership to dominate the people.”26 A successful strategic air campaign might result in 2.7 million deaths and reduce Soviet industrial capacity by 30–40 per cent, but
...more
