Do you think the U.S. was right in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Question

I think we were right, I used to feel bad about it, but I don't anymore.

Answer 1

I agree.
Although it seems a terrible thing to do -- to drop a nuke.
A land invasion which was INEVITABLE, considering japan's maniac leadership, would take much more lives of BOTH Japanese and Americans.
Sometimes you have to cut your losses and surrender honorably and look ahead. That is what Japan did. Too bad it took 2 nukes to get them to do the right thing and stop throwing away the lives of their citizens and the future of their country.

Answer 2

this question has two parts:

Was the U.S. right in demanding unconditional surrender (which Japan was unwilling to do) instead of conditional surrender (which Japan was willing to do) which caused the war to continue until the bombs were dropped?

Was the U.S. right in dropping the bombs given that the war was continuing?

I won't answer the first.

As to the second, yes the U.S. was right in dropping the bombs given that the war was continuing.

The bombs actually were not that effective. The U.S. had killed more people and destroyed more buildings with earlier bombing raids. But the bombs represented an increase in power. Two planes destroyed two cities instead of the hundreds it normally took. But there was nothing really new in the bombing of civilians or any of the other aspects of the raids.

Answer 3

Well.....that's a loaded question; let's look at it this way; Japan was a major figure to contend with in the 1930s and 1940s; the US and other allied forces were fighting them hard in the Pacific but they were definitely a force to reckon with; Would telling them that war sucks put an end to their agression? It is sad that it took a bomb to kill and disfigure innocent folks for a nation to put an end to a war but it's like what someone told me a while ago; You may be hitting me and I can tell you to stop all the time and you don't. But if I basically whip your behind back, then you'll stop. so sad to say, yep though it caused hard consequences, was right; Harry Truman was quoted as saying that he didn't lose no sleep after making such a decision yet I am sure in the process of it, he did;

Answer 4

No and it was not necessary to kill hundreds of thousands of non-combatants. This idea that it saved 100,000 + GIs KIA, was a figure that was printed in an American Magazine in August 1946, a full year after Japan was nuked. There were those in our government when the decision was made in 1945 trying to justify nuking Japan. The record shows the estimate of 30,000 American KIA if Japan was invaded, which is allot, but way short of 100,000 +
Japan was completely cut off from any supplies coming in by the US Navy. People of Japan were starving to death---600-700 calories a day they were getting. The only oil Japan had was what they produced from plants.

On a personal level I like to say all those men who fight and died in the South Pacific won the day for America.

Answer 5

It stopped World War II you don't know had we not done it we may not be a free country today? It was a terrible tragic situation though! We can't control wars they have been happening since the beginning of humankind but hopefully we may learn form our past! There will always be wars and rumor of wars as long as humans inhabit Earth!~ World War 3 doesn't seem like it is that far off unfortunately.

Answer 6

The history is troubling. Sec. of state Joseph Barnes persuaded Truman to demand unconditional surrender, meaning that the emperor could be arrested and tried. This was a cynical move calculated to stiffen Japanese resolve (they had been talking surrender) and it worked. Instead of doing a demonstation (another option) they decided to drop fat man and little boy. It may have saved lives, but it is a stain on our country's soul to this day.

Answer 7

Surely. We had them, the Japanese were preparing a "last man" defense, and the bombs forced the surrender.
Good job.
Unfortunately, so many nukes are in circulation right now that even if they never got anywhere near their targets, they'd screw up the planet so badly the only survivors would be cockroaches and Republicans.

Answer 8

Yes, as horrible and dreadful as it was, finishing the war in the conventional way would've been much worse. What a burdensome decision for President Truman.

Answer 9

Just like nuking Iran. We'll save countless lives from tyranny.

Answer 10

We were right. The Japanese were very aggressive. If weren't to have done that, the Japanese would have invaded the U.S.A. and attacked. We were very right. War calls for despirate measures.