Was the U.S. justified to use the atomic bomb against Japan?

Question

also this is for a discussion and i really need info thgat is really really important so please you guys, provide resources if you can , thanks, Christian

Answer 1

That many innocent deaths could never be justified.

Answer 2

Without a doubt, should have dropped one on Tokyo or Kyoto in my opinion. The Japanese were insane, merciless, and desperate. If the Allies had to invade Japan, they would have lost countless lives. The US Military made so many Purple Hearts in anticipation for the would-be invasion, even now after three major wars, they still haven't used them all.

A half-million Axis deaths more than justify millions of Allies dying, and ending a world war. I really doubt anyone needs any justification for killing the Imperial Japanese after what they did in Nanking and Manchuria, if anything, they got off easy.

Answer 3

Well, anything that saved the lives of 5 million Allied soldiers which was the estimated casualty figure, for occupying the Japanese Home Islands by force, to my mind is perfect Justification.

Japan was given two chances to surrender unconditionaly and refused.

Answer 4

I think so. Invading Japan with ground forces would've cost a lot more lives on both sides than the atomic bombs did. That was the justification for it.

Answer 5

American forces were countries near Japan waiting to a land attack. Also, the Japanese were getting ready to invade China. Then the bomb was dropped...if this hadn't happened, we probably would have seen the death of not only thousands Americans, but also more Japanese AND Chinese deaths.

My grandfather was one of those soldiers getting ready to invade Japan...if it hadn't been for them bomb, my father would have never been born, hence, I would have never been born. I say THANK YOU TECHNOLOGY and God bless the souls who lost their lives in WW2.

Answer 6

Japan had attacked countries without any valid reason and it is the reason why the dropping of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified.

Answer 7

Yes we anticipated 1,000,000 KIA and the British anticipated 500,000 KIA in the planned invasion of Japan. The Japanese would have lost millions in the fighting. 200,000 people dead is a tragedy but it is by far the lesser of two evils.

Answer 8

There's some pretty good evidence that Japan was ready to surrender before the bomb was dropped.
"Months before the end of the war, Japan's leaders recognized that defeat was inevitable. In April 1945 a new government headed by Kantaro Suzuki took office with the mission of ending the war. When Germany capitulated in early May, the Japanese understood that the British and Americans would now direct the full fury of their awesome military power exclusively against them.

"American officials, having long since broken Japan's secret codes, knew from intercepted messages that the country's leaders were seeking to end the war on terms as favorable as possible. Details of these efforts were known from decoded secret communications between the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Japanese diplomats abroad."
(see link below)
Even if dropping one bomb might have some justification, there was no justification to dropping a second bomb. The only reason we dropped the second bomb was to scare the rest of the world.

General Curtis LeMay, who had pioneered precision bombing of Germany and Japan (and who later headed the Strategic Air Command and served as Air Force chief of staff), put it most succinctly: "The atomic bomb had nothing to do with the end of the war."

Answer 9

Yes. There were estimates that it would cost an additional million lives to invade Japan. Unfortunately the Japanese Military/Government/King did not want to surrender even though they were going to lose. The bombs forced them to surrender sooner.

Answer 10

Probably close to 3 million of us baby boomers are here today because they used the bomb. So I think it was a very good idea.

Answer 11

yes,2 million american men in the purple project were on okinawa staging for the invasion, a bigger invasion than d-day of normany,expecting 1 million casulties in the nine beaches in five waves,i would say yes,we did the right thing