Atomic Bomb Justified?
Was the Atomic Bombing Justified? 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 aggravated Japan to no end. In addition, the United States stood as a firm roadblock to Japan’s grander plans by stopping shipment of aircraft gasoline airplanes and airplane parts.
Since the war there have been numerous debates whether the use of the Atomic Bombs was justified. Well, it certainly was justified. The United States and Japan were at war for several years, along with many other countries. The Pearl Harbor bombing was unforgivable, sneaky, and claimed too many lives. It clearly conveyed that Japan would go to any extreme in an effort to gain power and control. Making the decision to move forward and bomb Japan is extremely hard to imagine, but it was the best solution and quickest answer to ending the war quickly, thus, saving further loss of lives.
Was it the right thing to do? If Japan’s invasion continued, Winston Churchill predicted that over one million Americans and British would have died. “We estimated that if we should be forced to carry this plan to its conclusion, the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946, at the earliest. I was informed that such operations might be expected to cost over a million casualties to American forces alone” (“Carroll, Doc. 11”).
On December 7, 1941, The
Since the war there have been numerous debates whether the use of the Atomic Bombs was justified. Well, it certainly was justified. The United States and Japan were at war for several years, along with many other countries. The Pearl Harbor bombing was unforgivable, sneaky, and claimed too many lives. It clearly conveyed that Japan would go to any extreme in an effort to gain power and control. Making the decision to move forward and bomb Japan is extremely hard to imagine, but it was the best solution and quickest answer to ending the war quickly, thus, saving further loss of lives.
Was it the right thing to do? If Japan’s invasion continued, Winston Churchill predicted that over one million Americans and British would have died. “We estimated that if we should be forced to carry this plan to its conclusion, the major fighting would not end until the latter part of 1946, at the earliest. I was informed that such operations might be expected to cost over a million casualties to American forces alone” (“Carroll, Doc. 11”).
On December 7, 1941, The
Cited: Fatman, The Manhattan Project Heritage. Preservation Association, inc. (22 March 2002) http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HISTORY/fat_man.htm Japanese nuclear weapon program: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nuclear_weapon_program J. Robert Oppenheimer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Robert_Oppenheimer , April 2, 2012 Little Boy, The Manhattan Project Heritage Pacific War: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_War April 3, 2012, Creative Commons Attribution Sino Japanese War, www.infoplease.com