Politically this was also a good move by President Truman. It is likely that had he not decided to use the bomb, the blood of 500,000
“The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians. But that attack is only a warning of things to come. If Japan does not surrender, bombs will have to be dropped on her war industries and, unfortunately, thousands of civilian lives will be lost. I urge Japanese civilians to leave industrial cities immediately, and save themselves from destruction.” Harry S. Truman appears to be perfectly confident in his radio address to the world on August 9th 1945. Confident that he has made the right decision in dropping the first weapon of mass destruction, and thus hurling the world into an atomic age. It is, however, the poise of this strong leader, that makes it unclear to many just how agonizing and belabored his decision was. While at the time, to the public, the dropping of the atomic bomb was perfectly justified by the horrors of World War II. However, looking at this subject in retrospect, the atomic bomb has been lowered from its savior status, and in some people’s eye’s ranks among the world’s most horrible crimes of war. This debate has raged between historians for years, yet research and articles written in recent years how show the atomic bomb not only ended the war is a timely fashion but also, holistically, saved both the US and Japan, much distress and agony. Nevertheless, the net worth of Truman’s decision to drop the World’s first atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki well out weighed any fallout that might be attributed to their destruction.
In the last days of World War II, victory for the allies seemed inevitable. It was only a matter of time, until the Japanese would surrender, and the world would be safe again. However, despite this confidence, an invasion of Japan would prove to be a costly event, in both capital and human resources. President Truman decided to take the only logical way out of this war and ordered the dropping of the Atomic bombs. By 1945, the war effort encompassed every aspect of American life, draining the country of economic resources and creating a level of instability within the government’s infrastructure. Also, with the loss of hundreds of thousands of America’s finest men, it was likely that any further damage in this respect would severely hurt the United States in years to come. But this problem was not only in the United States. Britain and France were both drained by war and it was likely that they would be of little service to the US. It would be necessary to launch and a full-scale invasion to take Tokyo. With the exception of the unreliable Russians (evidenced by their retraction from WWI), the US would have to commit fully to this action without the support of any of their allies. This commitment would not only be irreversible, but also prove to be costly, as it was estimated that a full-scale invasion would cost some 500,00 American lives and millions of dollars. It was further noted, based on experience in Iwo Jima and Okinawa, that in an amphibious assault of the Japanese coast, would result on the death or wounding of 30%-35% of US soldiers. It was only likely that the same passion and intensity that defended and killed 120,00 American men on the relatively small island of Okinawa would present itself in an all out defense of the Japanese main land, calling for the commitment of every Japanese individual. Thus creating a situation strikingly similar to that of Vietnam, becoming a guerrilla type war. And, as in Vietnam (a much smaller and weaker country militarily) the US would prove to be incapable of winning a guerilla style war in unfamiliar terrain. However, the positive effects of the bomb was not all one sided, and would prove to be just as helpful to the Japanese.
