Atomic Bomb Essay, Research Paper

T h e A t O m I c B o M b

August 6, 1945, around 70,000 lives were ended in a matter of seconds. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Today many argue about whether or not the US should have taken such a strong measure. Was it entirely necessary to drop such a devastating weapon? Yes, it was.

First, look at what was going on at the time the decision was made. The U.S had been fighting a massive war since 1941. Morale was most likely low, and resources were probably at the same level as morale. However, each side continued to fight, and both were determined to win. Obviously, the best thing that could have possibly have happened would have been to bring the war to a quick end, with a minimum number of deaths. What would have happened if the Atomic bomb was not used? The most obvious thing is that the war would have continued.

Its possible that Japan was just about to surrender, but most evidence would not agree with that statement. I’m sure that most of us have heard of a group of men called the Kamikaze. Kamikazes were “suicide” pilots. They would load an airplane with explosives and try to crash into an enemy target. Think about what must be on this pilot’s mind. Imagine the tremendous love they must have had for their country. They would fight until the end, for their emperor and their country. The scary thing about this is the majority of the Japanese military thought this way. Once more I must bring into the picture the fact that a longer war means more deaths, and it appears that a longer war is exactly what Japan had in mind.

T h e A t O m I c B o M b

Most opponents of the bomb say that it was immoral to drop the bomb on such targets as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they cannot disagree with the fact that the major manufacturing of wartime products was conducted there. I don’t believe that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the best places to bomb, due to the high civilian numbers; however, it is still my belief that the Atomic Bomb was necessary to end the war. Is it immoral to use a bomb? No, it’s not very nice, but it’s not immoral. These are the kinds of things that happen in war, however unfortunate they are.

Despite other arguments, the Atomic Bomb was a necessity. Without it, the number of men that would have died on both sides far surpasses that of the number that were killed in the droppings of both Atomic Bombs.