Monday, May 4, 2009

Atomic Bomb

Two atomic bombs was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the Americans on September 6th, 1945 and September 8th, 1945. The drop of the bombs brought the United State's victory over Japan  seven days later on September 15th, 1945. 

          The fatal decision on whether to drop the bomb over a Japanese city was made by the next president after Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman. In Truman's diary, the tone of his voiced showed the terror of what the bomb was capable of. It was a bomb very capable of destroying many lives, as it did, stealing the lives of the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Indeed, it was a choice made by one person on whether to drop the bomb and if it was the right course of action to take. 
          Harry S. Truman made the decision to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he knew of the consequences and he was aware of the pros and cons. The biggest reason why the States and other countries including Great Britain, Canada, and Germany was that they wanted Japan to surrender and to scare the USSR. USA did not want to "waste" the atomic bombs in a demonstration and hence dropped it in the unsuspecting cities in Japan. Not only did it cause Japan to surrender, the US was winning the war.
          Of course, when the bomb was dropped, high death casualties was on the rise. Since "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" was dropped on the bigger and more prosperous city in Japan, other cities in Japan had already been destroyed. The number of cities destroyed had reached sixty. In the end, Japan was only a part of a political war between the US and the USSR. As a justification of 2 billion people, the decision of dropping the deadly atomic bombs was made. 
          I believe that it was an unwise decision to drop the bomb. It may have brought victory to the Americans, but too many lives had been taken away and destroyed two very big cities. There is also the fact that the Americans did not give enough time for the Japanese to surrender before dropping the bomb. In this case, the bomb dropping and people dying could have been avoided because the Japanese would have considered the decision of surrendering had there been more time for a conditional surrender. 
            Another reason why I think that the bomb dropping decision made by Harry S. Truman was an unwise one is because of the unclear instructions that was given out. From Truman's diary excerpt, it could be clearly read that he had ordered the bomb to be dropped on military selection only, and not civilians including women and children. If the bomb had to be dropped, it should have only been aimed at the large selection of Japanese army instead of destroying the entire two cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Therefore, this unclear order given out from Truman got lost and in turn, became- in my opinion- an unwise decision and two disastrous bombs were dropped and the American's celebrated their victory over the Japanese.