Dropping the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During World War II, a mid-20th-century conflict that involved several nations, the United States military dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Wikipedia, 2005). The first atomic bomb was exploded over Hiroshima on August 5, 1945; the second was detonated over Nagasaki four days later. The bombs killed more than 120,000 people immediately and about twice as many over time. Many of the victims were civilians.
As a result of the bombings, Japan surrendered unconditionally. These bombings went down in history as the first and only nuclear attacks, and have been the source of much debate in the sixty years that have followed. This paper discusses the decision to drop the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an effort to demonstrate that the decision to drop these bombs was indeed the right decision.
The atomic bombs were secretly created by the United States, with the help of the United Kingdom and Canada, under the codename "Manhattan Project" (Wikipedia, 2005). The bombs were initially created for use against Nazi Germany. However, as Worls War II progressed, it was increasingly clear that the U.S. military needed to resort to stronger tactics.
Even before Japan initiated WWII, its leadership was divided into two opposing groups (McManus, 1995): 1. The peace party, who never wanted any hostilities between Japan and the United States; and 2. The war party, who believed that Japan should rule the Pacific and most of the lands touching it. The war party launched a vicious attack on a U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Japan's only sizeable victory during the war.
According to historian Victor Hanson, the Battle of Okinawa, the last major battle of World War II, demonstrates Japan's determination to fight until the bitter end (Wikipedia, 2005). More than 120,000 Japanese and 18,000 American soldiers were killed in this battle and it was one that strongly influenced Truman's decision. The Japanese were a deadly enemy in the eyes of U.S. leaders, as they upheld a strong tradition of pride and honor: Many Japanese soldiers followed the Samurui Code, an ancient ethical code of content, and would fight until the very last man was dead.
The Decision to Drop the Bombs
The decision to drop the bombs in Japan was made by U.S. President Harry S. Truman, who stated that the bombs were necessary to generate a quick resolution of the war by inflicting destruction, and instilling fear of further destruction, that was strong enough to cause Japan to surrender (Wikipedia, 2005). Immediately following the Hiroshima atomic attack (and prior to the Nagasaki atomic attack), Truman issued the following statement (Wikipedia, 2005):
"It was to spare the Japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of July 26 was issued at Potsdam. Their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. If they do not now accept our terms, they may expect a rain of ruin from the air the likes of which has never been seen on this earth."
When President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Harry Truman took over the Presidency, which included responsibility for final nuclear weapon decisions (Morton, 1960, p. 66). The decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was his first major decision. The Target Committee, which consisted of Groves' deputy, two Army Air Forces officers, and five scientists, met in Washington in mid-April 1945. Their initial intention was to choose cities that had not already been heavily damaged by the Twentieth Air Force's conventional-weapon bombing campaign, but the committee determined that these types of targets were scarce. Finally they decided on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as ideal military targets.
Near the end of the war, Stimson observed that Japan was near defeat but not near surrender and looked upon the bomb to push Japan into surrendering (Bernstein, 1976, pp. 119-121). It is well documented that alternatives plans were under consideration; however, these were risky compared to simply dropping a bomb, and therefore passed over in favor of the bomb (Oh, 2002, p. 22). For example, one alternative would have been to invade Japan. However, Truman felt that the decision to drop the atomic bomb saved half a million U.S. lives, not to mention numerous Japanese casualties.
To the extent that the bomb was a military necessity for the war to end, domestic political pressure played a major part in the decision (Oh, 2002). The Manhattan Project was a bureaucratic industrial giant with over 120,000 employees and facilities all over the U.S. (Takaki, 1995, p. 38).
With the exception of Congress' participation in the discussions of the use of the atomic bomb, it appears...
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