Hiroshima was not a military target, that was a lie Truman told to try to smooth over the fact that he'd just committed a horrific war crime.

Two committees—the Target Committee and the Interim Committee—were convened to advise U.S. leaders on the atomic bomb. The prioritization of maximizing the bomb’s psychological impact on the Japanese population and leadership is the common thread that binds the recommendations of the two committees.

But the identification of military objectives by the Interim Committee was a rationalization meant to obscure the true aims of the Hiroshima bombing. The Interim Committee’s recommendation was an endorsement of terror bombing with a legal veneer.

At bottom, Stimson wanted to kill as many workers and their families possible.