I know that a lot of people will probably hate me for saying this, but I believe it is true. The death toll from the atomic bombs is numbered between 90000-166000 for Hiroshima, and between 60000-80000 for Nagasaki. The bombings were catastrophic, but they pale compared to the alternative.
Operation Downfall [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_downfall]: The Land Invasion of Japan.
Split into two parts, Operation Olympic, and Operation Coronet, the invasion had projected casualty rates in the millions for Allied Soldiers, and tens of millions for the Japanese.
Operation Olympic was targeted at southern Japan, specifically, the Island of Kyushu. To put into perspective how large this invasion would be, consider this: the naval armada would have been bigger than the Normandy Invasion. Operation Coronet would also be massive, with the largest seaborne invasion action in history. Coronet would land on the Kanto Plain, and make a drive inland for Tokyo.
On the Japanese side, all defenses were set on Kyushu, with thousands of Kamikaze planes hoping to overwhelm Allied Naval Forces through sheer numbers. Ten thousand kamikaze planes were built, with only two thousand deployed at the Battle of Okinawa earlier in the year. This left 8000 planes ready to collide with allied forces at Kyushu.
On the ground, the defenses numbered 900000 soldiers, or about 14 Corps. This is not factoring in the Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps, which rounded up every able bodied man in the country to act as combat support. They numbered 28 million strong at the time. Despite weapons shortages, the Japanese were ready to fight to the last man to defend Kyushu, hopefully blunting the invasion force.
Proposed weapons included gas warfare and nuclear weapons, as neither the Japanese nor the Americans had signed the Geneva Protocol banning biological warfare at the time.
Oh, and if that wasn't destructive enough, this is all without considering that the Soviet Union was also about to declare war on Japan and invade them too.
So let's recap: The Japanese were ready to fight to the last man, woman and child to defend their homeland. Every last one. Had the bombs not been dropped, Operation Downfall would have had the potential to annihilate the entire country, with millions of deaths on both sides.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed that. At the relatively low casualties compared to the atrocious death tolls on the Eastern Front or the Second Sino-Japanese war, the atomic bomb was probably the best solution. The other advantage is that it brought about the major awareness of the destructive capabilities of nuclear warfare, which has so far ensured that they never be used again in case of Mutually Assured Destruction.
Was the bombing morally unethical? Possibly. Was it necessary? Yes. Could it have been much, much worse? Yes.
When faced with the alternative of genocide, I choose the option that ends the war with the least amount of death.
Operation Downfall [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_downfall]: The Land Invasion of Japan.
Split into two parts, Operation Olympic, and Operation Coronet, the invasion had projected casualty rates in the millions for Allied Soldiers, and tens of millions for the Japanese.
Operation Olympic was targeted at southern Japan, specifically, the Island of Kyushu. To put into perspective how large this invasion would be, consider this: the naval armada would have been bigger than the Normandy Invasion. Operation Coronet would also be massive, with the largest seaborne invasion action in history. Coronet would land on the Kanto Plain, and make a drive inland for Tokyo.
On the Japanese side, all defenses were set on Kyushu, with thousands of Kamikaze planes hoping to overwhelm Allied Naval Forces through sheer numbers. Ten thousand kamikaze planes were built, with only two thousand deployed at the Battle of Okinawa earlier in the year. This left 8000 planes ready to collide with allied forces at Kyushu.
On the ground, the defenses numbered 900000 soldiers, or about 14 Corps. This is not factoring in the Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps, which rounded up every able bodied man in the country to act as combat support. They numbered 28 million strong at the time. Despite weapons shortages, the Japanese were ready to fight to the last man to defend Kyushu, hopefully blunting the invasion force.
Proposed weapons included gas warfare and nuclear weapons, as neither the Japanese nor the Americans had signed the Geneva Protocol banning biological warfare at the time.
Oh, and if that wasn't destructive enough, this is all without considering that the Soviet Union was also about to declare war on Japan and invade them too.
So let's recap: The Japanese were ready to fight to the last man, woman and child to defend their homeland. Every last one. Had the bombs not been dropped, Operation Downfall would have had the potential to annihilate the entire country, with millions of deaths on both sides.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki changed that. At the relatively low casualties compared to the atrocious death tolls on the Eastern Front or the Second Sino-Japanese war, the atomic bomb was probably the best solution. The other advantage is that it brought about the major awareness of the destructive capabilities of nuclear warfare, which has so far ensured that they never be used again in case of Mutually Assured Destruction.
Was the bombing morally unethical? Possibly. Was it necessary? Yes. Could it have been much, much worse? Yes.
When faced with the alternative of genocide, I choose the option that ends the war with the least amount of death.
