Atomic bombings of Japan?

Question

was the american nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified?

oh and I'm chinese, i had relatives fighting japanese for years, my great uncle fought at shanghai

Answer 1

Yes. The closer US forces drew to the Japanese homeland, the harder the Japanese fought (the campaign for Okinawa in May1945 was the most costly campaign of the war for the US Navy).

Since Japan still had two sizable land armies (one in Burma, one in China) that could be brought home to help defend the homeland, the bombings (which resulted in fewer casualties than the firebombing of Tokyo, btw) allowed the Emperor to tell the Japanese High command that, that as unthinkable as surrender was, further detonations of such a massively powerful weapon were even less acceptable than capitulation.

The estimate of Japanese civilian casualties for a US invasion of the homeland that was made at the time was far higher than the Nagasaki/Hiroshima totals.

Answer 2

The rational for it's use was the following:

One million American service men were expected to be killed in the invasion of Japan. In order to save those lives the bombs were used to force a surrender.

Also, Truman wanted to show the Soviet Union the fact that America had nuclear technology.

The first reason is more than enough to justify the use of those weapons. What I find odd is that so much emphasis is placed on the two atomic bomb drops and only 210,000 people were killed, yet during the mass bombing of German and Japanese cities millions of people were killed, and nobody talks about that.

Answer 3

This almost comes down to a matter of personal opion on what we believe the facts to be.
I personally agre with the assesment that any conventional strike would have cost hundreds of thousands of soldiers´ lives on both sides as well as many civilians lives in the process. Part of me wishes it had never come down to that at all, but to me it was the lesser of two evils.
I do not agree with the argument that had the US never detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki the proliferation of nuclears and the arms race between Russia and America would never have happened. It would have happened anyway. You don´t build a weapon that powerful and keep it too much of a secret. You want the world to know you can defend yourself. It is the same reason Israel wanted the bomb, then North Korea and Iran.

Answer 4

To those people who insist that atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers needed for the invasion of the Japanese mainland. Why was it not done in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Afghanistan and Iraq?. Almost a million American soldiers could have been saved by doing so. Many US troops are now bleeding to death in Iraq and Afghanistan, why not use the nukes?. Anyway it's justified isn't it?.

Answer 5

Japan started the second world war and showed no mercy to their enemies. Prior to dropping the atomic bombs President Truman warned the Japanese what was in store for them if they did not surrender. Additionally, the Japanese had mobilized men women and children to conduct suicide attacks against the Allies if they landed. All of this taken together makes the bombing justified.
The real point is Japan waged a war of terror and that war was visited upon them.

Answer 6

It was absolutely unnecessary and IMO was the single most horrible war crime ever. The Atomic Bombs were creations of Jews, with Oppenheimer as their principal agent, and the US as the financier and logistics provider. The Jews had originally intended to use nukes on Germany as vengence because the Germans had exercised the courage to take back their country from their Jewish masters. Fortunately, Germany surrendered before the Bombs were completed. Since we had developed the bombs, the US decided to test their effectiveness by dropping them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the process. Maybe someday, some other country may decide to use nukes on America - then Americans can get a taste of their own satanic medicine.

Answer 7

You'll never know. It's all speculation at this point, but they may have surrendered to the US before the Soviets occupied any of their mainland territory.

Answer 8

in general killing someone isnt justified...
but i mean the americans figured its either them or us
cuz a land invasion wouldve cost millions of lives, because the japanese government was arming civilians with weapons to resist any occupation forces..
so technicaly they did save laves but still it was horrible
well watever who knows wat coulda happened...but nuclear weapons are a double edged sword

Answer 9

Nothing in war can be truly justified. Were we there? Did we see the millions dying on each side? So there is no true answer for you question. Did it end the war early? Yes Did it cause great havoc? yes Did it save more on each side by killing many at once???? We will not learn in this life.

Answer 10

no ...you see..americans are never justified..we all ways wrong..of course the jap wouldnt give up.. and what no one tells you that the japs had a shyt load of troops in China and Korea and Vitnam..so you see the nuke did end the war..after all if the Japs didnt give up the u.s would have turned japan into a parking lot..a nukular parking lot..free parking all