The Pros And Cons Of The Atomic Bombs

In the year of 1945, the United States government committed the horrible mistake of dropping the first nuclear bombs on the civilians of Japan. To this day it remains the only instance where one country has used nuclear weapons against another. Those weapons that annihilated entire cities with just one bomb, they not only amassed destruction but psychologically affected those who were on the ground. Never before a bomb ever done so much damage. The atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were unnecessary, and an act of extreme violence; therefore, unacceptable, even in the midst of war.
First, one of the many false excuses the American government used to justify their decision was that the Japanese would not have surrendered without

For example, another option presented by Admiral William Leahy, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was to “oppose the use of the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender” (American History Textbook). Although the blockade Japan's ships and the use of standard bombing techniques would have induced surrender, the US government still dropped the bombs; therefore, the officials who made the decision were heartless politicians. Without a reason, even with the option of using less devastating weapons, the decision was still made to drop the bombs, giving up the idea of trying a demonstration or conventional land and air attack strategies. Furthermore, an excerpt from the Japanese newspaper, Nippon Times states, “What more barbarous atrocity can there be than to wipe out with one stroke the population of a whole city without distinction- men, women, and children; the aged, the weak, the infirm; those with positions of authority, and those with no power at all” (Nippon Times). Thousands and thousands of innocent civilians died because of the decision made by politicians who were safe across the ocean. While this account of the atrocity of nuclear bombs is described fairly, others reading

To fulfill its ultimate goal of total surrender, the US government glanced over the essential facts and threw away its humanity. Focusing instead on winning at all cost, whether necessary or not. Dropping nuclear weapons on civilians demonstrated to the Japanese how the US was willing to use the most extreme measures to show its strength. Employing the psychological fear tactics that followed the massacre of nuclear bombs allowed the US to extract the surrender it desired from Japan; but, is winning a war in a way that takes the lives of hundreds of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children truly winning? The government should learn from its past mistakes and try to analyze all the facts before sentencing innocent people to