Swampyankee (Great name, by the way), your question has been asked countless times, and I'm still not sure there is a totally satisfactory answer. According the AAC, the answer was obviously "yes". And given what they knew up to the test of the atomic bomb at Jackass Flats I think the answer would still have had to "yes". The U.S. put a lot of eggs in that one basket, and even after BOTH had been dropped there was no guarantee that Japan would not have continued to fight on and thus necessitating an incredibly costly invasion. We need to look back to the time period from Pearl Harbor up until the time when the knowledge of the existence of the atomic bomb was more widely known among the command structure to truly understand the perceived need. Had the atomic bomb not existed, or not functioned properly or the Japanese hard-liners succeeded in circumventing the Emperor, the U.S. would have needed every long-range heavy bomber we could get our hands on in order to reduce Japan to a slightly hilly parking lot. Casualties in the island campaign had steadily risen in 1945 and there was no reason whatsoever to believe the actual invasion of Japan would not have followed that hyperbolic curve into the stratosphere. It is important to remember that despite the greater and greater numbers of B-29's bombing Japan, the Superfortress was still a problem-plagued aircraft in both equipment and in tactics. Not widely known were the plans to equip the B-29, B-32, B-36 and B-35 (some fairly crazy drawings if I say so myself) with both the Tallboy and Grandslam bombs with which to attack Japan. I suspect these bombs would have been used primarily to hit mountains and their tunnel systems to seal them shut. And don't forget the object floating in the punchbowl - Russia. Had push come to shove we would have needed every long-range heavy bomber would could lay our hands on. I hope that answers most of your questions.
Viking, I can assure you that our book, while it may have the occasional page taken from a manual, is based entirely on original factory, unit and AAC documents and photos. For instance, I obtained over 200 photos alone on the A-17/A-18/A-19 turrets that were designed and tested on the B-32, not to mention documentation on proposed production, tests, etc.
Varsity - I'm working on it/them!!
Donivanp, I, too, would love to see a kit of the B-32 - especially in the "One True Scale, Amen", 1/72nd scale. Given my years in the model kit industry I am sure I have appropriate data and drawings to enable a manufacturer to produce such a kit.
I hope this addresses all the questions and concerns to date. If more appear, I'll be sure to try and address them.
Alan Griffith