This shows that the Americans were happy with the decision they made and that the only reason they did it was to save lives in the long run. This also shows that President Truman has no doubts that he did the only thing he could have done to stop the war, which the Japanese Started when the bombed Pearl Harbour to make an empire in the Far East. However, this could be seen as bias as President Truman would not want to say anything bad about his life, or his decisions in his Memoirs because this was his legacy and I’m sure that he would not want to be remembered badly.
However, some people may disagree because they might think that such destruction and devastation can ever be justified; some people might think that killing so many people can never be put right. Also some people might think the Americans could have used less of a lethal force to try and stop the war. They could have tried a way without as much destruction before they killed over 200,000 people. If you look at a picture of Hiroshima or Nagasaki it just shows the sheer devastation that the 2 bombs caused. Not to mention the long term after effects of radiation poisoning. However, the Americans were completely unaware of what was going to happen when the bomb went off. A weapon of this much destruction had never been seen before. Especially the radiation poisoning, the scientists who made the ‘little boy’ and the ’Fat Man’ told no one there would be long lasting radiation poisoning that would kill and deform generations of people. Some people might think that the Americans should have tried something less drastic than a nuclear bomb the first time round. In a source written by the historian Vadim Nekrasov in 1984, he says,
“... I think the purpose of the bombings was to intimidate other countries such as the Soviet Union, who were no longer friends with America.”
This could be bias because it is written by a Soviet and he might be more negative against America as they are enemies with his country. Also, he might not want to believe that America had a just cause for launching 2 nuclear bombs on Japan.
In conclusion, I think that although it is easy to say that the Americans shouldn’t have dropped the atomic bombs, they were under great pressure to do so. Also, i think that they were right to bomb Japan; they could have used something less destructive and less powerful than an atomic bomb first time round. The first bomb they set off should have been a warning to surrender or else they will get the devastating atomic bomb. Overall, yes i think the Americans should have dropped the bombs but i think that they should have done it differently and given the Japanese a warning of the power they had and they could unleash on them and hope that they surrender, if not dropping the bombs was the best thing to do.
Joe McAlary
