I need articles with decisive yes and no opinions on, "Should the atomic bomb have been dropped to end WWII?"

Question

These articles must have a onsided opinion, nothing that is considered "on the fence".

Answer 1

Yes. Japan was preparing it's citizens to defend an invasion. The casualty rate would have been in the millions if the atomic bombs were not dropped. Instead, there was about 225,000. So, dropping the bombs actually saved lives, not just for U.S., but Japanese civilians as well.

Answer 2

Yes the body count would have been far worse had the USA invaded Japan. As for killing civilians that is really a none issue as the USA was fire bombing Japanese cities regularly and leveling cities that way with fire storms killing hundreds of thousands a night that is no exaggeration. The buildings are made mostly of wood and paper. Then there is the Japanese mentality to look at the Japanese military and civilian alike had shown to what lengths they would go to defend the home land at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The whole military force was wiped out except for a couple of hundred captured and mothers choose to jump off cliffs with there children rather than surrender to the USA. Imagine the body counts in a heavily populated area like japan proper. Then you have to consider the USA casualties would have been enormous Their were several D-Day type invasions planned and each one was several times larger than the Normandy invasion. In comparison to those evils what we did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the only humane option available.

Answer 3

The answer is "No", the atomic bomb need not have been dropped to end the war. Japan was already talking about surrender and an invasion would not have been necessary to bring them to the table for unconditional surrender. The bomb was dropped to bring a speedy end to the war because Russia began invading northern China, and Truman was concerned about the spread of communism to these areas.

See President Eisenhower Wikipedia quote:
"I voiced to him (Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson) my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives."
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1945 [14]

Philosophical reasons No:
Albert Camus in Combat newspaper, August 8, 1945
Political reasons No:
http://www.newscientist.com/channel/opinion/dn7706.html

Compare reasons for Yes:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Utilities/printer_preview.asp?idArticle=5894
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Considering that dropping the atomic bomb led to an arms race that yet might destroy humanity and took away any moral complaint the US might in the future have against weapons such as the Bomb being used against the US, I would have to say Truman made a tragic, if not fatal, decision.

Answer 4

Yes we should have dropped the atomic bomb. Prior to dropping it, we had been fire-bombing mainland Japanese cities in some cases destroying more, by percent, than the two atom bombs. That wasn't enough to force a Japanese surrender.

By dropping the bomb, we sent a clear message that we would continue to do so and with much less effort than before. It took one plane to drop the bomb compared to thousands of tons of explosives, millions of gallons of fuel, and thousands of planes to do the fire-bombing.

Also, to invade the main islands of Japan would have killed far more people, on both sides.

Answer 5

By all means! By dropping the Abomb, countless soldiers on our side were spared from torture, injury, or death. War is hell, and when a country engages in a war, they must be prepared to win or lose, NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME!

Answer 6

YOU COULD TELL WHO THE ONES WERE WHO DIDN'T WANT TO DROP THE BOMB. THEY WERE NOT IN THE LINE OF FIRE. U. S CASUALTIES WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 250,000 TO 500,000 DEAD ON ANY TYPE OF INVASION SANARIO. IF JAPAN WAS SO READY TO SURRENDER HOW COME THEY DIDNT DO SO UNTIL AFTER THE 2ND WAS DROPPED A WEEK LATER?

Answer 7

http://www.veteranstoday.com/article696.html