Was President Truman's Decision To Drop The Atomic Bomb Justified?

In July 16, 1945, the U.S. created the first atomic bomb and was detonated in New Mexico through the Manhattan Project. The United States held conferences on initial plans on how to cause Japan’s surrender which included bombing them (“Notes of Initial Meeting”). In August 1945, President Truman made the final decision on employing two atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki causing mass destruction and loss for Japan (Press). Truman’s decision to drop the bomb was justified because it was beneficial to America and resulted in less casualties.

A reason the atomic bomb was justified because it was a quick and efficient way for America to end the war. During the war, Japan sought for victory and showed no signs of surrender

According to Ralph Bard, the U.S. did not give Japan a “preliminary warning for say two or three days in advance of use” ("President Truman: Using Atomic Bombs Against Japan, 1945."). If North America was actually fighting Japan with fair method sand good intentions, then the United States should have applied those objectives to Japan as well. It is also unfair because the U.S. was forcing Japan to surrender while the U.S. flaunted their advancement and superiority to other countries with the atomic bombs they developed. The atomic bombs were also not justified because it was dropped on cities of innocent citizens, similar to how Hitler killed the jewish. For instance, a particular statement concluded that the United States can have a reputation “outdoing Hitler in atrocities” (Stimson). This shows how the bombing was so immoral that even American citizens commented on how cruel and alike the action was to a dictator who killed 6 million jewish people. Even though there are valid points on this view, the dropping of the atomic bomb was still justified because the United States was actually fair to Japan. The U.S. gave Japan a warning to surrender and even announced that they would drop the atomic bombs if they failed to do so (Hasegawa). This shows that they gave Japan a fair chance and a notification so it was Japan’s fault since they paid no heed to it. The Japanese even showed irresponsibility “dismissed the American atomic bomb message as mere propaganda (Hasegawa). It was Japan’s choice whether to agree with the United States or not and endanger their citizens. If Japan were to at least take caution or face the warning seriously and not as propaganda, then there would not be as many innocent casualties. Since the U.S. was not at fault, the United States morality is not a problem in the dropping of the atomic bombs then