Should Harry Truman have dropped the atomic bomb on Tokyo instead of on Hiroshima in World War II??

Question

Yes. He should have ordered Col. Tibbetts and his brave crew to park fat man and little boy right on the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and incinerated Hirohito. Revisionist history now indicates that Hirohito, although somewhat weak, was really a man of peace. This interpretation is total BS. Hirohito was as big a war criminal as Tojo and we should have incinerated him. Comments??

Answer 1

Tokyo was already badly burned (a la Dresden) from months of fire bombing,as were many Japanese cities.

Most of the buildings in Japan at the time were constructed primarily of wood, so the fire bombing had more than served it's purpose

Dropping an Atomic bomb on Tokyo would therefore not have made much sense.

To show the destructive power of you new weapon you would not want to use it on a target that is practically destroyed already.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were "virgin" targets that had become immune to daily scouting flyovers by U.S. B-29's .

These flyovers were done over several predesignated target cities to determine which city had the optimum weather condition for the bombing.

In fact earlier in the day,before Hiroshima was "nuked",a B-29 flew over causing air raid sirens to sound and much of the city's population to seek the safety of the bomb shelters.

After many hours locked away in bomb shelters the citizens re-emerged to go about their daily lives.

When the Enola Gay came to call Hiroshima's citizens chose not to re-enter the bomb shelters assuming it was mearly another recon flight.

They couldn't have been more wrong ! When the bomb dropped it was business as usual in Hiroshima and this was the reason for the catastrophic death toll.

Answer 2

No, if we had bombed Tokyo then the Emperor would have died. The result could have been a battle to the death with all remaining Japanese forces and significant American deaths. Hirohito played a tremendous roll in insuring that there were no insurgent type attacks after the surrender and that the Japanese people went about rebuilding their country and did not continue the war through other means. That's not revisionist history.

Answer 3

Although I have thought about this question many times, it really doesn't matter. Tokyo was being fire bombed daily by B-17s. The damage inflicted from the fire bombing was just as if not more deadly than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The onlt difference is that there wasn't any radioactive fallout. Personally, I believe the only reason why the atom bomb was used is because the Japanese didn't think that Truman had the guts to use it in the first place, let alone do it twice.

Answer 4

Tokyo is the capital of Japan, and the place where over 13 million people live, making it one of the most populous cities in the world but also, a big city to visit, find out more with hotelbye . Most of the city was devastated by the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, and then again by the bombing in the WWII, however, Tokyo was able to achieve a remarkably rapid recovery both times. The main attraction of Tokyo is the Imperial Palace with its beautiful 17th-century parks surrounded by walls and moats. The palace is still in use by the Imperial family.

Answer 5

Tokyo was actually intended to be the THIRD atomic target. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were selected as targets first in order to demonstrate the power of atomic weapons and give the Emperor a chance to order the surrender. If he had not surrendered following the Nagasaki bombing, Tokyo would have been hit to destroy the Japanese government and cause command-and-control issues for the upcoming invasion of Japan called Operation Olympic, scheduled for November of 1945

Answer 6

I think we really made an effort to allow civilians a chance. I don't think we needed to use the second bomb but I understand the reasoning of the first. I don't know enough about Hirohito to comment on him as a war criminal.

Answer 7

The same reason (sort of) why we don't target the command bunkers of US vs Russian command structure, there'd be no one to turn it off. Of course they're targeted, but they're not high on the list. and besides, the incendiary and carpet bombing killed more civilians in Tokyo, than those killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. A nuclear attack on Tokyo would not have had the same effect as if done on a 'live' city.

Hirishima and Nagasaki, along with several others were saved carpet and incendiary attacks for the purpose of saving them for the Big Show.

Answer 8

The United States had only produced two or three nuclear warheads at the time of the bombing of Hiroshima, so it was extremely important to choose a target that had no military value, and hence, no anti-aircraft weaponry. We couldn't afford to lose a nuclear warhead. That's why a non-military target was chosen. The United States has been much criticized for dropping THE bomb on a civilian target, but the choice was motivated by purely practical considerations.

In addition, if we had dropped the bomb on Tokyo, the government of Japan would have been so disrupted that it would have been impossible, or very, very difficult for anyone to authorize a quick surrender, which was the sole motivation for launching the nuclear age.

Answer 9

properly sure and no the challenge right here is that one japan had already killed lots of at pearl harbour and somthing had to be completed to show that the u . s . a . wouldnt enable such an act to pass unpunished whether the opposing u . s . became searching for peace or no longer .additionally it became the only possible way the people ought to do and considerable harm without huge losses of life the jap made them pay very very dearly to take the two small isalnds off japan american commanders realsed the jap had set there defence with an purpose to combat to the final guy with the only purpose being to kill has many us servicemen has conceivable if the people had long previous to the mainland even in spite of the undeniable fact that im optimistic u . s . might of gained victory interior the top the fee they might of had to pay to get t might have in actuality being a vietnam previously vietnam commanders new this it became additionally an oppetunity to show the international that the allies had created a weapon with such ability previous what became thout of on the time and renounce became the only real innovations for the enemys has that they had no longer something to counter this variety of risk

Answer 10

sorry, but you are incorrect about the Emperor / He was a puppet of the military and he tried to end the war but the military would not allow it / Minutes before the surrender of Japan was announced, the military tried for a coup but failed / And yes, eventgouhg I never did like Truman, he did the right thing about the atom bomb / He screwed up royally in Korea / I am amazed that after the death of some 50,000 troops, the stupid politicians simply let us retake lost ground and we ended up at the 38th parallel where we had been since the end of WW2 / In other words, 50,000 lives lost for NOTHING !!! Truman's War, by the way he was a DEMOCRAT !!!!!