What were the pros and cons of America's use of the atomic bomb in Japan?

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Pros:It ended the war a lot sooner than it would have otherwise.
It does not seem like it but it saved a lot of lives that would have been lost waging war on the Japanese mainland military and civilian.
Ended the Japanese empire

Cons:Started a nuclear arms race
Almost all the lives lost were civilian
Completely destroyed the environment
 
American scientists had been working on the Atomic bomb for a long time, underground in Chicago, believe it or not.

Using it however was the last thing the American government wanted to do. They knew well the toll it would take. After Pearl Harbor, we tried to fight a conventional war, all in vain. The Japanese were relentless, took many Americans as prisoners of war, used torture and refused to give in.

The only pro for using the Atomic bomb was to end the war in the Pacific. We knew the Japanese would surrender after such a catastrophe. They had nothing that could come close. We felt we had to use it in two cities so that the Japanese would know we were done playing games.

The cons were many, knowing the destruction it would cause, but our government didn't feel they had any other options. they had tried everything.

Hitler's scientists were VERY close to making the Atomic bomb and had the war in Europe gone on much longer, the consequences would have been disastrous. Had the German's succeeded in occupying England, we may very well be living in a different world.
 
Pros: 1. America was able to secure Japan's final surrender (World War II) without incurring casualties from directly invading a highly industrialized nation that had just over half its population.
2. It was also able to make a show of power to the Soviet Union (Communist Russia), which was the other major power and was in the process of conquering Germany from the east.
3. Building on that, Japan surrendered faster out of fear than it would have if a regular invasion had taken place. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had gotten the Soviet Union to agree to help the U.S. fight Japan, before the U.S. started to suspect the Union's expansionist motivation. Harry S. Truman became president after FDR died, and was rightly suspicious of the Soviets. As a result of the bombing, Japan was never invaded by the Soviet Union. In context, the Soviet Union invaded the northern half of the then-Japanese province of Korea, while the U.S. took the southern part. That's how North and South Korea were formed, and how the southern one was democratic while the northern was communist. Hence, the Korean War, five years later.

Cons: 1. 200,000 Japanese, mostly civilians, died from radiation and injuries caused by dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs could have been dropped on an unpopulated area, which would have scared Japan without killing so many.
2. Since the bombing scared a nation into surrendering, it was technically terrorism on an international scale.
3. It was the start of the Cold War. Then, only the U.S. had nuclear weapons. Today, around a dozen countries do. Now, the U.S. wasn't the only one doing research, but the unveiling encouraged others to work harder to catch up.
 
their were alot

Pro
-ended the war
-showed the world that the US is a huge super power
-Saved US marines from making a frontal assult on japan, in which their would have ben alot of predicted casualties
-stopped japans invasion of russia and china

Cons
-killed almost three times as many civilians then military personel
-years and years of toxic debree
-rebuilding lost cities
-Russia seeing the US as a threat (which led to the cold war)
-caused the US to help rebuild japan for 50 years

the bottow line is that the atomic bomb put an end to small time combat. this revolutionary devise could destroy thousands of lives in one hit. on the other hand, the emporor of japan was descusing a surrender that could have taken place as soon as a month after Heroshima. The atomic bomb was like the ipod, once one kid had one then all the other kids had to have one too. make up your decision and look on google for stronger, more detailed facts.
 
PRO:

President Harry Truman saved TENS of millions of Japanese lives, and millions of American lives by deciding to use the atom bomb. These numbers are from Allied and Japanese sources. Both sides had prepared extremely well for the invasion -- because they prepared well, they both knew accurately what the costs would have been.

The Japanese leaders who recognized the end once the two bombings happened and then had the good sense to surrender should also be credited.

Thus to inform you most wisely look at the judgment of the two parties most knowledgeable -- The US Commanders and the President who decided to drop the bombs -- they voted "pro", and then the judgment of the Japanese Commanders, when they saw the result of the two atom bombs. Remember that the Japanese were prepared to fight and resist down to the last man, woman and child. Yet they surrendered! That was a vote "pro".

Together these wise leaders saved tens of millions of lives, and they saved Japan, the nation and all its heritage -- for in such an invasion Japan would have been wiped out, totally.

Because of the tens of millions of lives saved, because an entire nation and its heritage were saved there are NO cons.

It was the right thing to do, a good and loving thing to do.
 
Pro: American lives saved because we didn't have to invade
Pro: Russia was intimidated; there was a serious possibility that as soon as Japan was defeated the US and Russia would have fought over Europe
Con: It was freaking horrible and a disgrace to any nation that claims to support human rights
 
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