Hiroshima Bombing Justified Essay

On August 6, 1945, the Japanese city of Hiroshima was simultaneously annihilated in a few seconds, killing thousands in a snap of a finger. The bombing of Hiroshima, carried out by the United States, was the first time an atomic bomb was dropped on any form of civilian infrastructure. Many people argue that the bombing of Hiroshima is considered a war crime under the rules of warfare and that the United States should be charged accordingly. However, I believe that the bombing of Hiroshima was justifiable because the Japanese had attacked the U.S. without warning at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had prior warning before the bomb was dropped, and because invading the Japanese mainland would cost millions of lives. To begin with, the bombing of Hiroshima was justifiable because the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor without warning. Some say that the Japanese did not

Critics of the bombing argue that the bombing of Hiroshima led to the deaths of over 120,000 innocent Japanese civilians. However, according to the article, “Hiroshima, Obama, and American Morals” by David Barton, “A study done for President Truman’s Secretary of War Henry Stimson estimated American casualties at 1.7 to 4 million (including up to 800,000 American deaths), and from 5 to 10 million Japanese fatalities, depending on how stiff the resistance would be. Several million more casualties were projected for other Allied Forces, which included nations such as Great Britain, China, Canada, and Australia. Projections thus placed death numbers at around 7 million on the low side, up to 14 million on the high side.” This means that while the bombing of Hiroshima led to many Japanese civilians dying, a direct land invasion (under Operation Downfall) would lead to indescribable numbers of casualties and deaths, easily peaking into the tens of