Reasons For The Bombing Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not nearly as black and white and some people make them out to be. In war, who is to decide who the good guys and the bad guys are? There were so many factors ands risks that President Truman had to weigh in when making this crucial decision. In the end, he decided that it would be most beneficial to his country to bomb two military and industrial centers in Japan. President Truman 's decision to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justifiable because the United States was forced to respond to the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the alternative of invading Japan would have resulted in higher death tolls from both sides, the use of brutal force such as an atomic bomb was the only way Japan …show more content…
The first plane of the attack was identified by the Americans as an American aircraft; therefore, the Americans were caught completely off guard when the attack first began (Harris). The Japanese had the upper hand in this attack, and left the Americans defenseless and panicked. This situation draws similarities to the United States ' bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since the Japanese caught the Americans off guard, it was only logically fair that the Americans would catch the Japanese off guard with the bombs. Just as the American Navy and citizens were innocently attacked, so too were the Japanese people. In a war, an attack on a country 's home does not go unnoticed and calls for a response by that …show more content…
According to an article about the pros and cons of dropping the atomic bombs, the government claimed that one reason for dropping the bombs was to instill fear into the Japanese people. The United States ' possession and usage of the bombs demonstrated their strength to not only the Japanese but also the rest of the world. A counterargument to the bombs is that great tension was created between Japan and the United States ("Pros and Cons of Dropping the Atomic Bomb"). The United States was able to scare the Japanese, thus forcing them to surrender. Although a strong tension was created between the two countries, it would not have been much different had the Americans invaded Japan and killed thousands of their people in that fashion. On top of all of that, the United States would have lost soldiers as well. Either way, the Japanese would not have stopped fighting until they were scared and battered by the bombs. The war had already been going on too long for the United States ' liking, so they did not like the idea of an invasion because of the amount of time it would