Was the US Just in Dropping Atomic Bombs in Japan

[Brisco Bold]

I think the US was justified in nuking Tokyo not only because of the reasons given, but also because of the 'Crystal Ball' effect it produced. Dropping a nuke revealed to the world the awesome destructive power of atomic weaponry. Academics argue that if the bomb were not dropped, we might have carelessly stumbled into our next conflict just itching to hit the launch button. With the dropping of the nuke (and not just a testing), we inadvertently ushered in an age of (precarious) peace.

[Stone]

Here's a question - we nuked Japan in the fall of 1945.

In between 1945 and 1949, we were the only country in the world with nuclear weaponry. USSR didn't test a bomb until fall of 1949 (after, I believe, stealing the plans for our bomb).

We knew the USSR was trying to develop a bomb.

Could we have been more aggressive against the USSR, perhaps even using nukes against the USSR during that 1945-49 period, in an attempt to keep the USSR from ever developing nuclear weaponry? If we were able to accomplish that - there would've been no Cold War, and the US would've maintained nuclear hegemony for who-knows-how-long.

[Kenshin]

Absolutely not.

The Cold War may have sucked, but it maintained a balance of power in the world, and incredible innovations came from all the research devoted to it.

Right now there is no balance of power, and terrorists came in to fill that void.


Not that I wasn't happy to see the Cold War end, of course. I remember watching on the news, seeing the Wall come down, seeing the old pre-soviet Russian flag raised up on the mast, and all those happy people.

But it was an important era.

[Brisco Bold]

Some theorists argue that the only historically stable international political configurations are ones with two poles (i.e., two world powers -- Cold War) or one (ie., right now, America). This present unipolar system -- is this more or less stable than the cold war?

[Gohron]

Regarding nuking major urban centres, MacArthur desperately wanted to nuke Kyoto, a major historic and cultural centre, but the president wouldn't let him.

MacArthur also wanted to nuke every major Chinese city in the Korean War when they intervened. Don't think the Soviets would've been very happy...

[Dolemite]

The U.S. was justified in dropping the bomb in Japan.

That said, I'm often suprised at how good our relations are with them nowadays, considering it's only been less than 60 years since the war ended. Eh, now that I think about it, 60 years is a while...

[AstroBlue]

Regarding nuking major urban centres, MacArthur desperately wanted to nuke Kyoto, a major historic and cultural centre, but the president wouldn't let him.

Shit, NO NINTENDO!!!

[Frogacuda]

It's pretty hard to comprehend. I know our president can be pretty stubborn and zealous, too. I can't imagine what it would be like to just wake up one day and hear Pittsburgh and Detroit were gone. It's pretty chilling and I have trouble thinking that could ever be justified.

That said, it put an end to japanese imperialism which has caused countless crimes against humanity as well. But I find it difficult to think of it in those terms. I do feel like we did it as a display of power, not because it was the only way to end the war. The war would have ended soon enough regardless. However, the change to japanese culture and the end of imperialism and aggression might not have. Who knows?

[Diff-chan]

That said, it put an end to japanese imperialism which has caused countless crimes against humanity as well. But I find it difficult to think of it in those terms. I do feel like we did it as a display of power, not because it was the only way to end the war. The war would have ended soon enough regardless. However, the change to japanese culture and the end of imperialism and aggression might not have. Who knows?

Do some research on the topic. Japan was definitely not ready to surrender and the war would likely not have ended soon. They were not going to surrender after the first atomic bomb was dropped, an invasion of Honshu would have hardened them even more and it would've been horrible.

It definitely wasn't the only way to end the war (there's always more than one solution to a problem), but it was the best one at the time.

[Error]

i've read reports that stated the invasion of the main islands of japan wouldnt have been ready until late 1945, and that pacifying the island would have taken until well into 1946. Dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, and then later on Nagasaki saved much of Japan the horrors of being invaded.

They dropped 2 of them because really, how could they convince the high command that the US could systematically destroy the entire nation of Japan if they only dropped one. It also allowed the US to tell Stalin and the rest of the USSR that they had these weapons and that they were willing to use them.

As for why they dropped on a city instead of Okinawa or out at sea or something like that, that would have shown the Japanese military that the US didn't have the stomach to drop on a city. Okinawa was spared probably because the US had just spent countless lives to take the island, it wouldn't have looked good if they had atomized the place and all those buried on it.

As for would they have dropped on Germany, well, if you've watched Fat Man Little Boy, the movie based on the development of the bomb, the original target was Germany.