Americas Justification for the Use of the Atomic Bomb Essay

America’s Justification For the Use of the Atomic Bomb On August 6th, 1945, the United States of America dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan. Two days later, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These two bombs were the most devastating weapons ever seen, and their effects on human beings and property were plainly horrifying. Approximately 110,000 people were killed; most of them were innocent civilians who just happened to have lived in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although using this weapon was an atrocity to both the Japanese, and humanity in general, the world was at war. No matter what ulterior motives may have existed, the fact remains that the bomb was a justifiably necessary†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The chief assumption about the enemy, was that the Japanese would continue the war to the utmost extent of their capabilities and defend the main islands of Japan with every means available to them.† (Skates, 1993, p.3) â€Å"The consensus is that the Ja panese would have fought as fanatically as they had on Saipan, Peleiu, Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and they would have preferred death to surrender.† (Skates, 1994, p. 6) â€Å"The earlier fanatical and suicidal, yet hopeless Japanese defenses created a psychology that the normal conventions of war did not apply against a nation of potential kamikazes.† (Skates, 1993, p. 82) Secretary of war, Henry Stimson, believed that an invasion of Japan would solidify the hold that the militarists held on the country. (Skates, 1993, p. 238) He also felt that an invasion may not even induce surrender. (Baker (Ed.), 1968, p. 16) It would seem that although Japan was defeated militarily, they were far from being defeated psychology. (Batchlder, 1961, p. 72) Amore tangible obstacle to invasion, were the actual physical defenses that Japan possessed. Japan had about 5 million troops all over Asia. (Baker (Ed.), 1968, p. 5) Of these, 2 million were stationed in the home islands. (Baker (Ed.), 1968, p. 72) These were fresh and well trained troops who would most likely, fight to the last man. (Baker (Ed.), 1968, p. 74) The â€Å"Ketsu-Go† (plan for defense of the homeland) relied heavilyShow MoreRelatedWhy Truman Chose to Drop the Atomic Bomb895 Words   |  4 PagesAmericas decision to use the atomic bomb on Japan was only done to assert our position over the Soviet Union, and Japans surrender was only an extra accomplishment of the attack. During the years 1939 to 1947, numerous conferences were held to discuss diplomatic matters, and the strive towards getting Japan to accept an unconditional surrender. The Japanese had already been weakened, and the military predicted that they would eventually be forced to surrender in a short a mount of time. Even theRead MoreThe Justifications Of The Atomic Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki1616 Words   |  7 PagesThe justifications of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been continuously debated since the time of occurrence. The variety of approaches towards the topic often times lead to ambiguous conclusions that leave debaters dumbfounded. Primarily, there are two moral reasonings that analysts of the event utilize: the utilitarian approach and ethical tradition. The utilitarian approach determines the goodness or evil of an action by its consequences (Holt). 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