Ethical Dilemmas Of The Atomic Bomb

The necessity of the atomic bombs have long been debated in America. Although they did contribute to stopping the war, Americans still wonder if murdering Japanese civilians was a necessary means to an end, or if it could have been avoided. Some people believe that the war would have ended without using the bombs. Others believe they were the sole purpose that the war finally ended. Many people were involved with bringing the bombs to fruition, such as the scientists, the government and military leaders, and the very teams that flew them to their targets. Then the President addressed the situation and American citizens spoke their minds. All of these people had their own thoughts on whether the bombs were needed. In this essay, the opinions on the atomic bomb’s necessity will be reviewed by presenting both the pros and cons from a variety of sources.

Whether the use of the atomic bomb on Japan during World War II was justified, we will never know. However, the amount of time spent on discussing the use and effect of the bomb seems to be nonexistent. If they talked about the bomb there was no major argument against using the bomb; with that came mystery because they did not understand the bomb. There were factors that they used as an excuse to use the bomb, but these were in the background and later added to make the argument seem more one-sided, in their favor. Whether the use of the atomic bomb proved helpful or not is up to debate. The atomic bomb changed the world, and given the evidence, the use of the bomb was not talked about in detail except for when and where to use it.

1. Long after World War II and the use of the atomic bombs against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a great debate remains. It seems that there are two main potential arguments as to why the bombs were detonated and whether or not they were even necessary to begin with. The first theory surrounds the notion of the national security interests of the United States. In this theory essentially, Truman’s actions had been defended and justified as necessary in order to quickly end the war with U.S. causalities kept to a minimum.

The atomic bomb killed many innocent people that didn’t have anything to do with war such as school kids and little children. “ One of my classmates, he muttered something and pointed outside the window" All I can remember was a pale lightning flash for two or three seconds then, I collapsed, it was awful”(document D). This evidence helps explain that the U.S. should not have dropped the atomic bomb because it is about the innocent school children that were hit by the bomb and it shows how they did not have anything to do with the

turning point during the war. Truman’s decision to deploy the atomic bomb was one of the most

On May 1945, a long-awaited V-E Day finally came and brought an end to the war in Europe. But, the war in the Pacific was still continuing against Japan since they are being reluctant to surrender despite the continuous indiscriminate bombardments The United States began to consider about using the atomic bombs as the only way to end the war immediately. On the other hand, many argued that Japan’s staggering losses were enough to force Japan’s surrender. In the end, President Harry S. Truman didn’t hesitate to use this nuclear weapon and bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with only three days interval between the two bombing. As a result, Japan has surrendered, but if I were to make a decision, I haven’t used atomic bombs because it was unnecessary since Japan has virtually lost already.

The result of this was the death of tens of thousands of individuals, even civilians, in place of those who would’ve died in future battle, where it could even result in even more bloody casualties, as well as a substantial amount of American casualties. As stated by President Harry S. Truman, “It was their recommendation that the bomb be used against the enemy as soon as it could be done. They recommended further that it should be used without specific warning…” (Doc 1). In my opinion, this quote shows how we needed no demonstration and no warning to the Japanese and hit them hard, fast, and respond exactly how they did at Pearl Harbor. Another quote from Document 1 includes how this atomic bomb “would likely bring the war to an end,” (Doc

Dropping the bomb could kill up to 1 million soldiers. Was it worth it? Dropping the bomb, only over 100,000 people were killed. That’s saving 900,000 lives. I do believe that dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary. Here are the reasons why: Japan’s surrender could have ended the war faster, the attacks could have gotten worse as time in the war gained. Japan had already caused great damage to the United States.

On August 6, 1945 the United States revolutionized warfare by dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. President Truman jotted down in his diary, “We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates Valley Era, after Noah and his fabulous Ark” (Sadao 103).  There has been much controversy regarding this brutal attack on the Japanese, which according to the American Historian, John A. Garraty,  it is known to be “the most controversial decision of the entire war” (Walker 324). Many have confused their memory of World War history, and are unsure what is a myth and what is a fact (Sherwin 1091). The United States was justified by dropping the atomic bomb on

President Truman saw himself in a dilemma that would make him go down in history books and the choice to be debated up till this day. World War II had put a bind on everyone participating in it. Despite the United States late entry to the war, it had been involved prior to with the Lend-Lease Act that originated with Great Britain. The United States manpower had been exceeded and they knew they could not keep up with the growing need to win the war against Japan. The United States and other allied forces wanted to ensure unconditional surrender after the years they had endured with the fight with the Germans and to protect their soldiers. President Truman had to make a decision after the Manhattan

In August of 1945, President Truman and the United States decided to drop two massively destructive bombs on Japan. These bombs along with help from the Soviet Union caused Japan to surrender in the war. Ever since that day, people have been questioning whether or not the use of these weapons on civilian cities have been ethical. Despite the debate, evidence proves that the use of these weapons were a necessity to winning the war as Japan would have fought until the country was destroyed gradually.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the only way to end the war. Japan was going to destroy the U.S. if we didn’t do anything. We were running out of supplies, people, guns, etc. It was either we bomb Japan or loose the war.

WWII had taken the Allies four long years to defeat Germany, while the US faced Japan for two years. Ever country was running low on resources and exhausted from the back to back battles, the defeat of Japan needed to happen and fast. The allies devised a plan to make bombs for air raids that lowered the destructive power and increased the accuracy and efficiency, as to allow planes to carry more and hit all their targets. They also used means of psychological warfare to defeat Japan quicker and to show other countries how powerful they are, “ It was agreed that psychological factors in the target selection were of great importance. Two aspects of this are (1) obtaining the greatest psychological effect against Japan and (2) making the initial use sufficiently spectacular for the importance of the weapon to be internationally recognized when publicity on it is released.” (Target Committee,Los Alamos, May 10-11, 1945) The decision also helped shorten the war, and for all countries that is the ultimate goal. To gain victory as fast as possible to limit the lives lost and resources used in the war. “Another concurrent argument supporting the use of the bomb is that it achieved its primary objective of shortening the war. The bombs were dropped on August 6 and 9. The next day, the Japanese requested a halting of the war. On August 14 Emperor Hirohito announced to the Japanese people that they

It wasn’t long after that many scholars viewed the atomic bombs as unnecessary, therefore criticized President Truman and his administration’s decision to ultimately use the atomic bombs to succumb Japan into surrendering. Many critics believed that the U.S. Government could have ended the war without the use of nuclear weapons and felt that conventional military methods could have sufficed. Many suggested that the United States demonstrated acts of racism towards the Japanese people, while others believed that by using the atomic bomb the U.S. flexed its muscles towards a new threat, the Soviet Union and its communist

Although the atomic bomb was a new and quick solution to the war, the U.S. could have chosen other options to finish it. As a result of bombings