by Trey Russell

Created on: May 21, 2007

Truman's deccision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan was justified:

The dropping of the atomic bomb, while horrific in its consequences, gave beneficial results.

Concerning Russia: Had we not ended the war when we did, Russia would undoubtably have joined in the fight. For their services they also would have demanded a substantial portion of the far East. In the long run this would have likely led to a worldwide communist victory. And had the communist empire dissolved as the Soviet Union did it would not have been merely that one area falling into chaos and setting things back by many years, it would have been the world. This would have led to the end of the U.S. way of life as we know it.

Concerning lives: While the atomic bombs did lead to a massive loss of life, it is quite probable that had they not been dropped far more lives would have been lost on all sides. The Japanese forces were not concentrated on any one island and would have likely fought on as guerilla forces or holed up in mountainous areas, not surrendering for many years. That type of war always leads to civilian casualties as well as the deaths of the guerilla forces and the occupying army.

And so, Truman was justified in taking the course of action he did.

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