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Glad-I-Ate-Her · 08-07-2003, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dragonlich
Just a thought: what were the other options?

1) Normal bombings to destroy morale; Germany proved this didn't work. And, as someone had already mentioned, normal bombings have killed more people than these two atom bombs. Hell, the fire-bombing of Tokyo was comparable in it's effects: 100,000 deaths.
2) Negotiation; the US had tried to negotiate with the Japanese, even though these were obviously losing the war. Unconditional surrender was demanded, but the Japanese refused. Why would the US compromise with the Japanese?
3) Wait it out, until the Russians invaded; politically, this would have been a disaster, especially with communism spreading in China, and Russia all over eastern Europe. And given the history of Russian combat in Europe, it is very likely hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of Japanese would have been killed.
4) Invasion... Given the experience of D-day, and the recent other invasions of Japanese-held islands, it is reasonable to expect massive casualty numbers on both sides. The outcome would have been certain, the level of death and destruction was unknown, but expected to be severe.

So, given the other options, I'd say that the atomic bombs were actually the least damaging option. One can hardly expect the US to invade, killing tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands US soldiers, if they can end the war with two bombs that kill a lot of *enemy* civilians. you have to remember that this was the era of "total war" - civilians were seen as legitimate targets; military planners thought that if you kill enough of them, they will give up the fight. And to be fair, in this case, they were correct.

I could have not it better myself.
Glad