Well then this was a win-win situation. Japan surrenders and the Pacific war ends quickly. Russia cant extend it's influence into the Pacific theater as the war is won.
I never said the war could not have been won without the bomb - just that the cost would have been higher and the decision unwise. Your above points seem to bare that out. I can't imagine anyone in the US military brass wishing to extend the war and invite Russian influence. It makes no sense on either point.
-Castle
