Should the USA have dropped the Atomic Bomb?

Well, Japan was on the verge of surrender regardless, and Allied High Command knew that... I think they did it more as an example than as a tactical strike... In many ways I think you can actually equate dropping those nukes the the holocaust!

Yes.  Fuck them.  The attack on Pearl Harbor was unwarranted and unprovoked.  We simply cut their supply of oil and trade off with us at least when they began overreaching their bounds by attacking and taking over 90% of the Pacific Islands.  They saw that as a threat and decided to attack.  We retaliated, crushed them, and then made an example out of them.  Call me racist, hard-nosed, and an asshole.  But, those fuckers killed people that were in my family and thousands of others for little to no reason and started a war that they knew they couldn't win.

That being said, if it weren't for those two or three aircraft carriers we already had out in the Pacific that morning of the attack...the US Navy would've been crippled beyond repair and we would've been spread thin with a two-front ground-based war.  But, it also shows that even at about 40% capacity, the US Navy still trumped the Japanese Navy.

If Japan had had any diplomacy at the time, they wouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place.

Some people say that the USA allowed Pearl Harbor to happen on purpose. I've never taken a definite stance on this issue. Both sides have intriguing arguments. Some historians would say that we dropped the bombs on Japan to show off our new toy and to send a message to other countries. Makes sense if you ask me. From what I understand Japan was already pretty decimated even before we dropped the bombs.

Here is a good article.

In August of 1945, the decision was made to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, causing two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to become pillars of history and examples of the devastation the bomb can cause. The reason for the attack was to end World War II, but many people argue that it was completely unnecessary and cruel. To come up with an informed idea on this subject, let us look at the pros and cons of the event.

List of Pros of Dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan

1. Ended the War
It triggered Japan to surrender and ended the war quicker.

2. Saved Lives
It prevented a massive number of civilians in the US from possibly losing their lives, not to mention the soldiers themselves. In fact, the invasion by the Japanese would have caused a great amount of casualties on both sides, which could have easily exceeded the toll in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

3. Showed Strength
It showed the superiority of the US to the rest of the world, by showing their possession of atomic weapons.

4. Demonstrated Lethality
Though the immediate use of the bomb convinced the world of its horror, it has prevented its use in the future, when nuclear stockpiles would be far larger.

5. Avoided Joint Occupation
Its use has impressed the Soviet Union and halted the war quickly. This was enough reason for the USSR not to demand joint occupation of Japan.

6. Created Peace
Peace talks have become much easier to develop because of the fear the bomb brought to the rest of the world.

List of Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb on Japan

1. Made An Arms Race
When other nations realized that the US held this type of power, they were coerced to develop their own in an arms race.

2. Physical Impact
Aside from the thousands of innocent Japanese people who died from the bomb’s impact, there were millions more who were affected by its residual radiation.

3. Costly Protection
Millions of dollars were needed to be spent to develop the atomic bomb.

4. Destruction of Cities
Cities had already been completely destroyed from the war’s fire bombings, so many people believed the use of the atomic bomb was unnecessary.

5. Unnecessary Use
It seemed like Japan was very close to surrendering that time. In fact, a huge number of its cities had already been destroyed by conventional bombing, the home islands were already blocked by the US Navy, and the USSR has already entered the war by attacking Japanese troops in Manchuria. The dropping of the atomic bomb was seen as adding insult to injury in a major way.

6. Created Anger
The event created a great amount of anger and animosity between the US and Japan, which actually still exists today.

7. Lack of Control
There was no control of the means on how the atomic bomb caused devastation and human casualties

Conclusion

The US has certainly justified the drop of the atomic bomb by instilling fear into its citizens. However, a Japanese invasion was also greatly feared, and a real possibility during that time. With the pros and cons mentioned above, we can have a good idea of what should have been done.

http://nyln.org/13-key-pros-and-cons-of … b-on-japan

Japanese invasion?! Really?! I find it very hard indeed to imagine that Japan was ready to invade the US by 1945... They'd literally run out of fighter pilots, their military was in tatters and their navy was practically defunct. They had nothing to invade with. And considering the Japanese ego and self confidence, they never even dreamed that the home islands would be bombed, so when the bombs did start falling, that was pretty much the end of their moral as well. Japan fell before the bombs did. Those nukes were just an exclamation point.

Also, from what I've heard/read, Winston Churchill was indeed aware of the attack on Pearl Harbour, though he didn't authorise the sharing of that information with the US because he needed them involved in the war in an official capacity rather than as a mostly neutral country that was willing to lend a few obsolete destroyers and some supplies.

And for my final point, I do feel it necessary to point out that although the US funded the Manhatten project, it was mostly worked on by non US scientists, especially German ones ;-)

But, those fuckers killed people that were in my family and thousands of others for little to no reason and started a war that they knew they couldn't win.

Why are your innocent lives worth more than theirs?

The US committed the same crime you hate the Japanese at the time committing.

Not about to get into a debate, just pointing out there's two sides to every story.

It's about revenge bud. Never said I'm more valuable.

We had to drop the bomb  the Russians were at  the borders of  manchria the bomb had to show what we will do to you if you ever attack us again
plus the  deterrent . It would have also been a blood bath. Americans were from pow camps taken into the streets of Japan and beatin after the bomb.
It was the right thing to do in a dire situation
With Russia taking swaths of land and potentially Japan sometimes you have to brake a few eggs to make an omelette

I have thought about this off and on for year since i learned about World War 2, as time goes on and i had learned more about history afterwords with cold war ect.

it was probably for the best the bombs came down... had it not happened who knows what could have happened later on... part of what kept everyone from nuking each other was because of the effects on japan.

I've always thought that it was a bit too much, especially since it was practically all over. Any why drop two not one?

At the same time though, this:

part of what kept everyone from nuking each other was because of the effects on japan.

I'm amazing that dropping a few atomic bombs has stopped us nuking each other so far, but it's very likely true as the effects on Japan are still pointed at today.

Whether people agree with it or not, it certainly taught the world a lesson. Not just that America will have no problem bombing the crap out of you if you attack them, but that these kinds of bombs have huge repercussions to innocent people like children and the general ecosystem in that whole area for a very long time.

I know that they were called atomic bombs, but they were nuclear attacks. The only ones in history and it's not good that a world super power like America has that on it's record. It's not like they were empty cities either, they killed well over 100,000 people and injured more. That's not just retaliation, that's going overboard.

And weren't the bombs dropped days apart? Dropping one you could say was retaliation. A "look at what we can do and will do again if this continues" for the first one. There was just no need for a second. Don't care what anyone says, the fact that they were days apart and they'd seen the destruction the first one caused, showed the American mentality back then and it was wrong. First one I can deal with. Second one there's no excuse for. Would have been different if they were dropped at the same time.

As a side, thanks to this they made the Manhattan Projects comic series. The first two thirds (maybe three quarters) of that whole series was excellent. It went a bit nuts at the end and ignored the better characters near the end that were still alive, but what a series that was. Wouldn't have had that without all of this.

The first was to win the battle, the second was to win the war against Japan. They were absolutely necessary to save more lives in the long run and secure a surrender from a nation that wouldn't have stopped fighting without them.

They were ready to surrender before America dropped the first bomb though... The first you could explain away that it was to win the war. The second was just vindictive...