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The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki marked the end to the world's largest military conflict. Although many debates have surfaced over the ethics of such an attack, I feel that it was more than justified. Looking back it is easy to see that the bomb itself caused massive amounts of casualties. In addition to that, there were many more casualties amongst the survivors of the blast due to the unknown effects of radiation. As bad as that sounds, these horrible deeds were not committed without reason. Despite the appalling effects of such a weapon, it did offer the best choice for a quick and easy defeat of Japan. President Truman, who authorized the use of the atomic bomb, made a very wise strategic decision under the circumstances of the war. The nuclear bomb was a necessary last resort for several reasons. These reasons included the Japanese refusal to surrender, the immense amount of allied casualties involved in invading the Japanese mainland, and the inadequacy of a military blockade in forcing Japan to surrender.
In lieu of the atomic bomb, there were several other conventional methods that were suggested to force Japan to submit. These tech
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The other potential strategy that would force Japan to surrender would be a naval blockade . Had the blockade been successful, the Japanese would have been starved into surrendering. By the war's conclusion the Japanese kamikaze attacks had sunk 3 aircraft carriers, damaged 285 craft, and sunk a total of 34 (Whiddington 130). " (McAdams 90) One of the main reasons that Truman chose to drop the bomb was because of the minimal risk to the allied forces. No one, including scientists or military personnel, who knew about the atomic bomb were aware of the radiation side effects. In addition to the bomb’s awesome political power, it also provided some strategical/tactical advantages. The problem with this strategy is that it would have lead only to the death of civilians; and not weakened the Japanese military. Japan was made to remove the Emperor from his god-like state of power. At this point in time, they would rather die than to accept defeat and dishonor.
In Truman’s defense for authorizing the use of the bomb, the side effects of atomic weaponry had not yet been discovered at the time that Truman gave the order. With less resources and troops to lose and the “same” destruction capabilities, the decision to drop the bomb was made much more simple. This clause was included because the Emperor was so highly revered in Japan that his removal would only take place under the direst of circumstances. niques included a naval blockade, an extensive aerial bombardment , and/or an invasion of the island of Japan. It proved to be the only force that could compel the emperor to intervene in Japanese politics and stop the hostilities.
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