...what were the Pro's and Con's of dropping the A-bomb on Japan? was it needed or un-needed? Any info would be helpful. thanks
Welcome 4-D racing! Here´s some info for you to read: http://www.dannen.com/decision/ http://www.nuclearfiles.org/redocuments/1951/51-hst-memoirs.html
To be brief...my personal opinion is that the bomb was justified. The time is August 1945 and the US military had completed 2 of the deadliest invasions of the pacific war. Iwo Jima, for the size of the land, the attrition was horrendous. For Okinawa it was the costliest invasion of the pacific war. What would lead anyone to believe that an invasion of the home islands would have been easier? The atomic bombs killed 2-300,000 people. A number not to take lightly. However, if you consider that Japan had 3 million men in arms in the home islands, the civilian death toll due to ground combat, disease, starvation and continued massive B-29 raids and the loss of life inflicted on the allied forces. Quite frankly i believe that dropping the bomb was a more humane ending of the war compared to what could have happened otherwise. Cons according to me are: 1. The US was criticised for useing an unconventional bomb on civilians which leads to critisisms to this day. Leads to specific foreign policy problems being that the US was the only nation to ever use a bomb on another country. 2. The creation and use of the bomb led to the cold war. 3. The cold war created by the creation of the bomb launched an atomic arms race that threatened the end of life on earth as we know it and that threat is still a possibility to this day. Some pros: 1. Ended the war with Japan. and WW2 in general. 2. The use of the bombs in my book spared Japan and the US much death and destruction that would have occured due to an invasion of the whole country. 3. I believe the sudden end of the war led to a quicker revival of Japan as a country as compared to how Japans state of affairs would have been after an extended conflict lasting months due to an invasion. [ 18. November 2003, 07:54 PM: Message edited by: Ron ]
