Should we have drop the atom bomb

The Atomic Bomb:

Was it Necessary?

Do you ever imagine the possible outcome of World War II had the United States held back on dropping the now infamous and controversial atomic bomb? The bombs killed over 240,000 Japanese civilians, about 100 times more lives lost than the death toll at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese invaded American soil. These two bombs, which had more power than 20,000 tons of T.N.T, quickly yielded the surrender of Japan and the end of American involvement in World War II. Where would we be today had the bombs not been dropped? Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary?

Many people believe the atomic bomb should not have been dropped on the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima because of the large loss of life. What tends to be overlooked is the possibility of American lives that were saved by not invading the island of Kyushu, Japan.

This image was selected as a picture of the week o...

Nagasaki, Japan. September 24, 1945, 6 weeks after...

Ground Zero marker in Nagasaki, Japan

An inland battle could have meant thousands and thousands of American casualties. It is understandable how people view the bombing however; the Japanese were not willing to surrender in this situation. The bombs ended what had been a very lengthy and costly war.

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan prompted the surrender of the Japanese on August 14, 1945 thus ending World War II. One might argue that even though the bombings ended the war, they also killed a total of 240,000 Japanese civilians. Many potentially viable alternatives to dropping the bombs were not explored by President Truman as they probably should have been but because these alternatives were never explored we can only guess whether or not Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs was a possible savior of American casualties and also morally just.

The Potsdam Ultimatum of July 26 (1945) was a declaration issued by...