Do you feel the use of the atomic bomb in world war two was the proper thing to do?

• 1 year ago

Additional Details

Why do you think it was wrong or right. Keep in mind our fire bombing raids killed over a million. The atomic bombs killed about 350,000

1 year ago

Also invasion of Japan could have cost over three million American and British lives. And 20 million Japenses would have died from suicide attacks and in defense.

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

The dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan was a reasonable decision based on the limits of wisdom and of time and place. Any debate would have to take into account many known and unknown factors. As always where you stand determines your opinion. The GI waiting for the invasion of Japan had a different viewpoint compared to the politicians or acedemics. One important question: Did the Enola Gay and the dropping of the atomic bomb save lives? My opinion is that it did and was a difficult and correct decision.

Some evidence to consider:

1. Japanese life - including civilian life - was cheap, and some American leaders and many rank and file citizens may have been in favor of punishing the Japanese with the A-Bomb.

2. The Japanese refused to accept defeat and surrender. They could have avoided "punishment" if they accepted surrender earlier. If there was a villain; it was the Japanese leadership that started the war in Asia and stubbornly refused to end it.

3. American wartime leaders Eisenhower and Leahy argued that surrender could have been secured without the use of atomic bombs. Was surrender near or far by early to mid-august? Japanese thoughts: Planning a defense of the main island in the fall. Japanese decision was to fight to the death and never surrender..

4 American decision makers could not know for certain what it would take to achieve unconditional surrender from a nation that was fighting to the death..

5. The goal of war is to defeat the enemy and end the war as soon as possible. Even if the war is doing well for your side is it not the responsibility of war leader to continue fighting and not to stop until you hear from the enemy?

6. The Japanese cabinet that met on 9 August 1945 to decide whether to accept the Allied terms for surrender was locked in stalemate.

7. After two atomic bombs had killed more than 100,000 Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, plus the Soviet Union's entry into the war against Japan, half of the Japanese cabinet opposed surrender.

8. Major differences: Premier Suzuki Kantaro & Foreign Minister Togo Shijenori reported to the emperor on 9 August that a decision favorable to the termination of the war could not be expected. Naval Chief of Staff Toyoda Soemu insisted that he did not believe Japan would be "positively defeated." Army Chief of Staff Umezu Yoshijiro argued that ultimate victory was not certain, the Army was capable of one more campaign. The emperor decided to end the war.

9. Although Japan was defeated militarily it was not ready to surrender. (Historian Robert Butow notes that as late as 30 July, Japans response to Potsdam Proclamation was silence.

10. If the Japanese leadership was ready to surrender and participate in a political formula for surrender why did they not communicate this to the Allies? They were not in agreement?

It is true that the U.S. intercepted information that Japan was trying to come to terms with surrender but they were not willing to stop fighting and killing. If Americans suddenly slowed down the pace of the war and affected a surrender through negotiation and a possible invasion would this have increased Japanese aggression and the loss of American & Japanese lives? If Americans waited would Chinese, Koreans, Russians, Southeast Asians continue to die in large numbers.

In my opinion the decision to use the atomic bomb was correct and saved many lives. A most diffucult decision, proper in terms of time, place and what wisdom was available to the decision makers. We have the hindsight of 60 years living with the black cloud of nuclear holocaust, clouding our every judgement or political opinion on those August 1945 days, those at the time did not have that burden.

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