Argue either for or against this statement, "President Truman's decision to drop the bombs on Japan was justified."

Question: Argue either for or against this statement, “President Truman’s decision to drop the bombs on Japan was justified.”

The Atomic Bomb

As the twentieth century slowly dawned upon the world, there were many predicaments that lay ahead of the people of the United States; one of which was the Second World War. With the rise of communism and fascism, dictators like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin gained power and threatened the well being of the people by ruling with an iron fist. Although not considered a dictator, Hideki Tojo of Japan also participated in such cruelties by attacking nations without properly declaring war. These leaders and autocratic rules killed thousands and millions of innocent people and embarked on a campaign to rule the entire world. Luckily for the Americans, these totalitarian leaders ruled in the nations of Europe and Asia, not directly affecting the United States. However, on December 7, 1941, as President Roosevelt put it, a date which will live in infamy, Japan’s greed in conquering the world got out of control and affected America. Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of people and injuring many more. Although President Roosevelt had knowledge of what will happen if America were to enter the war, he had no choice but to enter the war on behalf of the Allies to avenge the deaths of thousands of Americans. The European campaign for the allies were very largely successful and the only thing left for the Allies to deal with was the Pacific Campaign into Japan. Unfortunately, in the midst of this chaos, President Roosevelt passed away and President Harry Truman was inaugurated into office. During this time, the American government researched and quickly harnessed the world’s most powerful weapon, the Atomic Bomb. Truman knew the consequences of dropping the bombs on Japan and thoroughly examined the positives and negatives of the bomb. In consideration of all this, the positives outweighed the negatives and the bombs were finally dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, two cities in Japan.

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President Truman had every right to drop the bombs on Japan in order to save lives and better America’s future as a world power. The bombs were dropped with a desire to save lives, nothing more and nothing less. The costs would have been innumerable and would have been crippling to the Americans if President Truman didn’t make the decision in dropping the bombs. One of the many costs that the Americans would have to pay would be the significant number of casualties that would have occurred if Americans were to have entered Japan and fight a war face to face. Some may consider the United States to be nothing more than coward for doing this, but it is far better than losing thousands of lives in war. The Japanese began to draft its entire population, including children and women. If the Americans were to have come face to face in combat with these soldiers, America would have suffered great losses; losses that would be impossible to fully recover from. Furthermore, sending troops into Japan and dropping a bomb on Japan is essentially almost the same concept; both are to decimate Japan into rubbles in order for the nation to surrender. So, why not choose the option of dropping bombs in Japan when it is much safer and more efficient than sending troops into Japan?

With the attack of Pearl Harbor, Japan and the United States were officially in a state of war between each other. In a state of war, the main focus is to decimate the enemy by any means possible. This meaning, deploying troops into enemy territories creating blockades, and even dropping bombs on the enemy is perfectly legal. President Truman was entirely justified in deciding to drop the Atomic Bombs on Japan. In any war, opposing nations killed enemy troops, decimated enemy cities into rubbles, and dropped bombs. Droppings bombs and deploying troops to kill enemy troops are one and the same; both result in the death of many. In any war, the point of war is to win. When it comes to war, the moral thoughts that govern society are not the same morals that govern the military. When in a state of war, the goal is to defeat your enemy, and keep your own men alive, so during the war, the lives of American soldiers were far more important to America than the lives of the Japanese; that was America’s goal- to take Japanese lives. Considering all this, why is it in then in this case that it is so controversial to take the lives of the Japanese population? Japan violated American territories, killed Americans, and caused a number of other problems for the United States; America suffered losses and to prevent further loss, President Truman had every right to make a decision in dropping the bombs over Japan.

Considering the consequences of American entry in to the war, the United States closely scrutinized the results of war. President Roosevelt and Truman carefully examined the positives and negatives. In the case of Japan, President Truman believed dropping the bombs on Japan was a definite positive for America. Dropping the bombs on Japan helped better the future of America by preventing a large number of casualties in battles. The only initiative in dropping the bomb is to help quicken the ending of the war and save lives, not to cause pain and agony; thus, making Truman’s decision in dropping the bomb justified. Truman was also justified according to legal international laws. America and Japan were in a state of war and in a state of war, there is only one victor. The point of war is to win and the only way to do so is to decimate the opposing side by any means possible. Deploying troops, creating blockades, and dropping bombs are all one and the same; they all result in death. The reason in deploying troops is to kill enemy troops. The reason in creating a blockade is to block shipment into enemy nations; thus, causing a dearth in goods and food, causing starvation and eventual death. The reason in dropping bombs is to decimate cities into rubbles and demonstrate power. Thus, if all these result in death, why is it so controversial for President Truman to make a decision in bombing Japan? A bomb is a bomb; whether it is an A, B, or C bomb, they are all one and the same. Bombs were made to decimate cities and kill people. In war, saving lives and winning are the top priorities in war. President Truman decided to bomb Japan in order to save lives and to win the war; thus, President Truman was totally justified in making the decision in dropping the bombs.

By: John Chun