Transcript The use of the atomic bomb

The use of the atomic
bomb
Was it justified?
Historical Facts About the Bomb:
► August
of 1945
► 120,000 people killed
instantly, at least
200,000 over time
► Japan surrendered on
Sept. 2nd
► First and only time
nuclear weapons have
been used (2 bombs)
during war
Yes, it was justified:
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Japanese military
leaders were not
willing to negotiate
Battle of Okinawa
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►
 110,000 Japanese
 7,600 Americans
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►
Japan’s tradition of
pride and honor
(Samurai code)…fight
to last death
Some civilians saw it
as a savior…they
wanted to surrender
►
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►
Waiting for surrender
would have cost
thousands of lives
Estimated 500,000
American lives to
invade Japan
POWs would have
been killed
Japan had engaged in
total war
Word of a plan to fly
Kamikaze planes with
the plague into San
Diego
No, it was not justified:
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►
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►
AB scientists argued
not to use it first
“If Germany had used
it, world would have
seen it as a crime
against humanity”
Targets were civilians
Show power without
using them
Because of radiation,
were poisonous
weapons…war crime
►
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Many leaders
(American and
Japanese) say Japan
was close to surrender
Should have waited to
see effect of Soviet
Union’s entry
Many people say US
had other motives
 Justifying $2 Billion
 Revenge for PH
 Show power to Soviets
Japanese Professor
► We
have discussed among ourselves the
ethics of the use of the bomb. Some
consider it in the same category as poison
gas and were against its use on a civil
population. Others were of the view that in
total war, as carried on in Japan, there was
no difference between civilians and soldiers,
and that the bomb itself was an effective
force tending to end the bloodshed, warning
Japan to surrender and thus to avoid total
destruction. It seems logical to me that he
who supports total war in principle cannot
complain of war against civilians."
President Eisenhower
►
"In 1945 Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my
headquarters in Germany, informed me that our
government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb
on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there
were a number of good reasons to question the
wisdom of such an act. During his recitation of the
relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of
depression and so I voiced to him my grave
misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan
was already defeated and that dropping the bomb
was completely unnecessary, and secondly because
I thought that our country should avoid shocking
world opinion by the use of a weapon whose
employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory
as a measure to save American lives.”