Why was America Unjustified?



Presiden Truman in 1945



A reason that America was unjustified in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was because Japan was ready to surrender only a few months after the warning was given out. With nearly 60 cities destroyed because of American troops as well as bombs, Japan saw that there was little more hope for them and in order to save lives they would surrender.

 A document sent to the American generals stated the Japanese terms of surrender. The terms included:

·         Complete surrender of all Japanese forces and arms, at home, on island possessions, and in occupied countries.

·         Occupation of Japan and its possessions by Allied troops under American direction.

·         Japanese relinquishment of all territory seized during the war, as well as Manchuria, Korea and Taiwan.

·         Regulation of Japanese industry to halt production of any weapons and other tools of war.

·         Release of all prisoners of war and internees.

·         Surrender of designated war criminals.

However, because of the inflexibility of the terms, Japan was rejected of their pleads for peace. It is arguable that the Japanese were unwilling to adjust their terms, but after several attempts to create peace America should have granted them their requests. This would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

            In addition, the U.S. generals did not give enough time for word to filter out that they were going to atomic bomb Nagasaki. Had they given out the warning sooner, innocent lives would not have been lost. Also, if the Japanese were aware of the disastrous effects of the bomb they would have surrendered unconditionally in order to protect the lives of their people.

 The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings did not defeat Japan, nor did they persuade Japan to accept surrender unconditionally. The emperor, along with other government officials, decided that the war should be ended even if it meant accepting defeat as early as May of 1945. If America had given them more time to retreat and prove that they were determined to create peace the atomic bombs would not have been necessary.

            An additional reason for the atomic bombing was to prove to the rest of the world, especially the Soviet Union, that America had a strong military. However, it was not worth killing an unbelievable amount of innocent lives in order to prove how powerful they are.



Albert Einstein, Scientis who greatly
contributed to the making of the
Atomic Bomb



            Another reason for the bombing was to justify the nearly two billion dollars spent on the atomic bombs manufacture. General Eisenhower, along with many other officials as well as civilians knew about the production of the atomic bomb. If the government were to not use the bomb Americans would lose faith in their government and assume that they do not know how to spend their money wisely. Therefore the use of the bomb was apparently "necessary".

 Even Albert Einstein, a scientist that assisted in the production of the bomb, thought that detonating it was incredibly inhumane.

"In the summer of 1939 Dr. Szilard put before me his views concerning the potential importance of uranium for national defense. He was greatly disturbed by the potentialities involved and anxious that the United States Government be advised of them as soon as possible." Einstein goes on to say, "I understand that he [Dr. Szilard] now is greatly concerned about the lack of adequate contact between scientists who are doing this work and those members of your Cabinet who are responsible for formulating policy."

            The atomic bombs use greatly concerned Dr. Szilard, as well as Albert Einstein. There were various devastating repercussions that were overlooked by the American generals as well as President Roosevelt. 



Robert Oppenheimer, Head Scientist of the
 Manhattan Project (Creating Atomic Bomb)



            Including on the opinion to not drop the bomb, the head scientist of creating the bomb during the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer didn’t agree with dropping it.  When Oppenheimer saw how explosive the bomb was he said it had reminded him of a saying from a book “Bhagavad Gita: I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”  Oppenheimer was distraught to think that something he had created had destroyed so many lives and he felt responsible for those who died because of the bombs.  Robert Oppenheimer said towards the end of his life in regards to the atomic bombings, "I have no remorse about the making of the bomb and Trinity [the first test of an a-bomb]. That was done right. As for how we used it, I understand why it happened and appreciate with what nobility those men with whom I'd worked made their decision. But I do not have the feeling that it was

done right. The ultimatum to Japan [the Potsdam Proclamation demanding Japan's surrender] was full of pious platitudes. ...our government should have acted with more foresight and clarity in telling the world and Japan what the bomb meant."  This quote expressed from how he felt about the bombing shows that he didn’t intend it to be used in such a horrific way.

            Not only did the main directors of making the atomic bomb not agree with it, but the military was very limited compared to the amount of military.  The two cities that America decided to bomb didn’t even have much military power.  Civilians had outnumbered troops from six to one.  If America really wanted to hurt Japan so badly by using such a powerful weapon, they should have bombed somewhere where it could have made a bigger impact against their military instead of innocent citizens.

            Another reason to look at, why couldn’t America just use fire bombings instead of atomic bombings?  America became the first and only country to use atomic weapons throughout every- single year of history throughout the whole entire world.  Firebombing would have hurt Japan too, but America used the atomic bombs just to look superior compared to other countries, especially the Soviet Union.  If anything, the U.S. should have only needed to bomb Japan once, besides the war was almost over anyways.



Stalin, Truman, and Churchill



            Finally, it is an opinion of many people that the main reason America dropped the atomic bombs on Japan was because they wanted to scare and seem ahead of the Soviet Union at the time.  Tensions were beginning to build up in Europe, especially with the Soviet Union and Stalin trying to seem more of a threat to America and other countries.  By dropping the bomb, it was another way for America to “Flex its muscles” and seem powerful to all other countries at the time.