Atomic Bomb Justified Essay

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Is the Use of Atomic Bombs to end World War II Justified? The use of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has remained one of the most controversial and debatable topics. While some may feel that it was necessary for a quick end to the war, we have to take into consideration that the end of the war was expected to come soon even without the atomic bomb. As what the special presidential envoy Edwin Locke, Jr. stated, the use of atomic bombs had only accelerated the end of war by an extra few days. (Dower 1999, p. 44) This implies that it may not even be necessary to use the atomic bomb, or maybe, a less extreme method should have been employed instead. Besides, the ethical issue of dropping the atomic bombs raised disagreements to the use of the atomic bombs. Therefore, in my opinion, the use of atomic bombs is not justified.…show more content…
It was also thought to be necessary to prevent an invasion of Japan, which was estimated to cause the lives of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers. (Walker 2004, p. 93) Especially when Japan was known to be very resilient, extreme methods may need to be employed. However, when it was already believed that defeat would be near for Japan, it was not justified to use the atomic bombs. In previous battles, there were already signs that Japan could not hold out much longer. The battle of Okinawa in June 1945 had seen 7,400 Japanese soldiers surrendering. (Walker 2004, p. 38) The outcome of defeat was quite apparent to both Japan and America. Besides, even American senior officers knew that Japan was so weak that the war could have ended without an invasion. (McGowan, 2008) It was a matter of time before Japan surrendered. Thus, the use of atomic bomb to end the war in the shortest possible time with the minimal loss of American lives was not a justified reason since the end was already

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