the bomb :: essays research papers fc

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  August 6th 1945, 70,000 lives were ended in a meter of seconds. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima then on Nagasaki. Today many argue over whether or not the US should have taken such a drastic measure. Was it entirely necessary that we drop such a devastating weapon?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First look at what was going on at the time the decision was made. The US had been fighting a massive war since 1941. The outcome was obvious but both sides continued to fight, and both were determined to win. Obviously the best thing would have been to bring the war to a quick end, with a minimum of casualties. In a meeting on the 18th of June the Joint War plans Committee gave Truman projected death rates ranging from a low of 31,000 to a high of 50,000. This number is much lower than estimates from other sources. AC Snow, a News and Observer editor, wrote â€Å"The invasion was expected to be the Armageddon of world war II. Some historians project that a million or more lives would have been lost.† President Truman and secretary of war, Henry Smitten, said that dropping the bomb was a military action that avoided the loss of many lives in the upcoming invasion of Kyushu.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I wonder what would have happened had the A-bomb not been used? The most obvious thing is that the war would have continued for much longer. Us forces therefore, would have had to invade the home island of Japan. Some historians say the number of casualties could have reached a million us soldiers, dead or wounded. Also, our forces would not only have to fight off the Japanese military, but they would have to defend themselves against the civilians of Japan as well. The Japanese would have continued to fight the US with all they had.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  No one can say exactly what would have happened, because let’s face it, no one knows. It’s possible Japan was just about to hand over its unconditional surrender, but most evidence would not agree with that. One thing that points to the Japanese not surrendering would be Kamikaze pilots. Kamikaze were â€Å"suicide† pilots. They would load an airplane up with explosives and try to nose-dive it into an enemy target. The Japanese Soldier would fight until the end, for his Emperor and his country. They scary thing about this is the majority of the Japanese’s military thought this way. The fact that the enemy is ready to die as long as you die with him is not something that a soldier wants to think