Hiroshima, a Difficult but Just Decision.

Essay by beastnessjimHigh School, 11th gradeA-, May 2003

download word file, 5 pages 3.0

Downloaded 109 times

Hiroshima: A Difficult but Just Decision

By the end of WWII, it is estimated that 292,131 American soldiers lost their lives - it could've been worse; much worse. It is also estimated that one million Americans and over 250,000 British soldiers would've died had we not dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima. Why? Well, because the Japanese had a 5 million-man army, and were under no circumstances going to surrender. Japanese did not surrender - it was considered cowardly, according to the Code of Bushido, and therefore one must die before surrendering. If you don't believe me, just look at the numerous Kamikazes that refused to surrender. Since they wouldn't surrender, we were left with two options: to drop the A-bomb, or to fight a land war of thousands of American soldiers versus thousands of Japanese soldiers, which would've been suicide for both sides! But we, unlike the Japanese, don't follow the Code of Bushido, so that option is out.

But the big question is " Was it morally right to drop the atomic bomb on Japan?" I believe that the United States did have sufficient moral reasons for dropping the bomb, yet it is a tough call.

Abraham Lincoln had said that he believed that the North's cause was good, and supported Sherman's notion of "total war", in which one must crush his enemy until the people lose the will to keep on fighting. Just like Lincoln, Truman believed our cause was just, and he supported total war as well. Some say Truman's act was especially controversial because of the number of "innocent" civilians that were killed in the bombing, and therefore he should have chosen a different site to be targeted. This depends on how you define innocent: these civilians (by their own will or not) were making bombs...