How Is Hiroshima Bombing Justified

“ The fact that we can release atomic energy ushers in a new era in man’s understanding of nature’s forces.” This statement above was by President Harry S. Truman and was featured in his official White House press release for the Hiroshima bombings on the 6th of August 1945. The heart of this statement poses countless questions about the nature of the bombings; as did the justification for bombing a non-military city bring a means to an end or an end to the means. There are lingering questions surrounding the ethics of atomic and nuclear weapons, asking whether the United States truly had justifiable reasons for Hiroshima. Although it ended the physical warfare of the Second World War, the United States had no true ethical justification for the Hiroshima bombings of 1945, primarily due to the fact that these bombings were militarily …show more content…
Since the bombs dropped, there have been debates around whether the bombs were necessary to end the war against Japan or if there were other means available to accomplish the same objective. The United States Strategic Bombing Survey looked over several documents, talked to Japanese civilians and military leaders after Japan had surrendered. They concluded the bombing was unnecessary to win the war, stating, “ Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that…. Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.” The survey remarks air supremacy over Japan would have been more sufficient, instead of causing pointless destruction on Japan’s cities and population. Clearly, America could have avoided using the A-bombs and the results would have reduced the bloodshed of the innocent citizens of