First of all I declare that I am one of the proponents of the atomic bombs being dropped on Japan in WW2, meaning I support the American's use of it against Japan.
However if anyone can convince me otherwise I will be only too glad to change my view.
One of the most(if not the most) important question is this, can anyone think of a better way to bring about the Japanese to surrender? Suggestion must be realistic and plausible, meaning no nonsense like asking Superman to fight Japan or using Star Wars spacecraft on Japan.
It had to be used. The war would have been prolonged if not. But the allies should not have dropped it on those two cities. It should have been dropped on an unpopulated/ less populated islet. A show of might instead of actual slaughter.
But on hindsight...maybe the world needed to know the horrors of nuclear weapons. Had it not been for Hiroshima and Nagasaki...we may have had a WW3 between USSR and US in the 60s and nuclear weapon would have been used. It is the fear of the nuclear damage that had held back the usage during the cold war.
i must still agree to the point whereby the bombs SHOULD still be dropped on more populated cities, not just a show of might but a massive slaughter is necessary to bring down the population. This can act as a real threat to the Japanese.
And since Japan was ruled by an emperor, the people's lives are in his hands. If he can't manage his people and generals, then a price had to be paid. Too bad for the lives lost, what's done is done. Time to move on.
From a political angle, if the Potsdam Declaration had included a clause clearly proposing the retention of the Emperor as leader following surrender, the bombs may have been unnecessary. As it turns out, the Japanese cabinet rejected the Declaration out of fear that surrender would mean the end of the Emperor.
drop on non-populated place might as well drop in desert mah...must kill their own people then they wake up...like when u sleep ur friend jerk u abit to wake u up one mah...
They should have targeted a more military target then cities. Also i think the time between drops were way way to short. They should have given the Japanese at least a week to consider before dropping another one.
However it can be argured that the Japanese might have thought the US only had 1 bomb. While dropping 2 made them scared that there might have been alot more bombs.
Also I believe that the dropping of the bomb was a show of power to the Soviet union. Telling them to stay away from Europe and not start a war with us because we have this bomb and you dont. I think it kind of stopped soviet expension till they themselves had a bomb and europe itself was recovering.