The Atomic Bomb Is NOT Justified

One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.

The pressing question still lingers: Was the United States justified in using the Atomic Bomb against Japan during WWII? World War II stands as the bloodiest and deadliest war of all time. It involved more than thirty countries and resulted in over fifty million civilian and military deaths. It lasted six years, beginning with Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939. As the Allied Powers (mainly the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union) and the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were in direct conflict with each other, many wonder if the cost of victory was too extreme. In late 1941, the process of creating the world’s first, most deadly weapon began. The production of the first atomic bomb was code named “the Manhattan Project.” After months of production, August 6, 1945, America dropped the “Little Boy” bomb on Hiroshima, wiping out ninety percent of the city. August 9, 1945, just three days after the devastation of the first bomb, America dropped the “Fat Man” bomb on Nagasaki. Dropping the atomic bomb on Japan was not necessary, nor justified in ending World War II. Due to the fact that America targeted heavily civilian populated cities (with limited military value), that Japan was in a position of surrender before the bomb was dropped, and the fact that the U.S. did not give enough time for Japan to process the devastation of the first bomb before the second in Nagasaki shows that America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb was entirely unjustified.

In 1945, at the order of President Harry Truman, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which triggered controversy worldwide. The debate arose between two sides, with one favoring the decision and the other calling it inhumane. Those favoring the decision agreed with President Truman, that dropping the atomic bomb was justified because it ended World War II. Those in favor also believed the bombing was justified because the US had given Japan a chance to surrender before they made the decision to drop the bomb. Those against the decision claimed Japan was ready to surrender and the bombing was unnecessary.

On the 6th and 9th of August, 1945, the United States of America dropped the Atomic Bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of these bombs brought a quick end to World War 2, yet caused extensive damage to the two Japanese cities. There have often been disputes as to whether the USA was justified in the dropping of the atomic bombs because of the damage they caused, not only to the cities, but to the people of Japan as well. Many people believe that the USA should not have dropped the bombs because of the damage they caused, and they also claim that Japan was already defeated. However, Japan did not surrender, and prolonging the war was not an option for America, as it believed it would cause even more casualties, not only to American troops, but to Japan as well. Thus the USA was justified in dropping the bombs on Japan.

Although the atomic bomb caused Japan to surrender and ended the war, the use of the bomb was not justified because Japan was so close to surrendering when the US created the Potsdam ultimatum and its effects to this day.

1945 was a big year for the world. Tyrannical ruler of Germany, Adolf Hitler, had committed suicide after realizing that he had lost World War II (Staff, Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies at Reims). Two years earlier in 1943, Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini had surrendered (Staff, Italian surrender is announced). After Hitler committed suicide in 1945, Germany announced its surrender, thus ending the greatest war mankind has ever known so far (Staff, Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allies at Reims). However, despite most of the Axis powers surrendering, one nation refused or so we all thought. That nation was Japan. In July 1944, American military forces captured the Mariana Islands and Saipan, two vital areas within

No, the Americans were not justified on dropping the atomic bombs in Japan. In World War Two, every country wanted what was in their best interest and some countries knew their limits but unfortunately some of them did not.

(Harry Truman: Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Announcement 1945.) Even after these pressing matters are addressed there are still some who believe that the United States wasn’t justified in dropping the bomb on Japan. According to SOURCES, Japan faced unnecessary devastation and suffered the loss of a majority of their innocent civilians; it is also argued that Japan’s military status was weak and dropping two bombs wasn’t the necessary course of action to make Japan

The justification for why the United States dropped the bomb was because they wanted to completely destroy Japan’s power. They wanted full control over the war and wanted to strip Japan of everything they had such as, “their docks, their factories and their communications”. With the atomic bomb the US achieved this. The atomic bomb provided a significant amount of power for the US. It set a precedent for what the US is capable of and the fact that this type of bomb was only used once shows the fear associated with it. It created a bad image for the US and they are now looked down upon because of their decision to use this bomb. The United States should not have used the atomic bomb on Japan because it went against all that they stood for

In August of 1945 the U.S used a massive atomic bomb against the people of Hiroshima, Japan. The atomic bomb that was used was identical to the equivalent of 20,000 rounds of TNT (Rosenburg, 2015). As you can imagine the bomb caused massive destruction and ended with the deaths of many people. It wiped out the city of Hiroshima, flattening it and ruining many of the things that once resided there. At that time, the Japanese were trying to cope with the loss of many family members and the loss of their beautiful city. All felt lost especially when the U.S. came back with another bomb that this time struck on the city of Nagasaki. The reason for the atomic bomb was to hopefully end the war between the U.S. and the Japanese. Soon after

“The Atomic bomb certainly is the most powerful of all weapons, but it is conclusively powerful and effective only in the hands of the nation which controls the sky.” The reasons I think we should have dropped the bomb on Japan are as follows it saved lives, demonstrated lethality, created peace, and ended the war.

The United States justifies dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because they told Japan that unless they surrendered they will drop atomic bombs on them. Since the Japanese did not reply, President Truman felt that it was right to get revenge for the bombing of Pearl Harbor. However, I completely disagree because tons of innocent people were killed just because Japan did not respond to the United States threat. In the Modern World History book by McDougal Littell it states that “a Japanese city of nearly 350,000 people. Between 70,000 and 80,000 people died in the attack.” Thousands of innocent children and families were instantly killed in this bombing.

On August 5th and 9th, 1945, The United States dropped the first ever atomic bombs on Japan in an attempt to end the grueling and seemingly endless war in the pacific. The bombs, named fat boy and little boy, forever changed to way we look at war and introduced a new age of super powerful weapons that could destroy entire cities in seconds. In addition, the nukes solidified the United States as the most powerful nation in the world and effectively ended World War Two. While the war was ended and the strength of the US struck fear into the rest of the planet, the bombs killed tens of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians and their radiation would continue to cause health defects in Japan for years. Due to the ethical concerns surrounding

In World War II, the US was presented with two main enemies: Nazi Germany and Japan. After the US had taken out Hitler in Germany, they still had to stop Japan. The US also had a personal dispute with Japan due to their kamikaze attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii killing almost two and a half thousand Americans. After unsuccessful military tactics such as, the US had to pull in their secret weapon, the Manhattan Project also known as the Atomic Bomb. After warning Japan the use of the bomb, the US Government sent two pilots and bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousands and completely destroying the cities’ landscape. This caused controversy in the US because of the sheer damage done and the damage of the radiation still going on today. Many, including the scientists on the Manhattan Project, say that the US should not have used the bomb because of how destructive it would be. Others justify the use by saying the US was just defending themselves against a threat.

The Atomic Bomb made a very serious statement at a time when the world was in disarray (“Manhattan”). World War II was one of the most destructive times in history causing over 50 million deaths and leaving behind mental and physical casualties of war. (“World War II”) It started in September, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and continued on a destructive path through Europe. Britain and France declared war on Germany. Two years prior in 1937, the Sino Japanese War was in full swing. Japan wanted to dominate China from a political and military standpoint and benefit from China’s many assets (“Sino”). United States, Britain and France aided China with financial aid through war supply contracts, which