Thursday, May 12, 2011
Using the Atomic Bomb
Considering the options that President Truman had when making the decision to use the atomic bomb, do you think President Truman made the correct decision, or do you think he should have gone in a different direction? Explain. Also, now that we know the long term effects of using nuclear weapons, do you think the U.S. owes the Japanese an apology for using the bombs? Why or why not?
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I think that President Truman made the correct decision by using the bomb. Although it killed many Japanese civilians, even more would have been killed if firebombing had continued or if Japan had been invaded, and there would also have been many American casualties. However, I think that the U.S. does owe Japan an apology for using the atomic bombs, because even though it was the best option avaliable, it was also a horrendous thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI believe President Truman made the right decision. The Japanes were relentless and would stop at nothing, dropping the atomic bomb was the best way to end the war.
ReplyDeleteI think that the U.S should apologize for it, the people killed by it were innocent civilians that had nothing to do with the war.
I think Truman made the right decision because fire bombing would have killed more Japanese citizens than the atomic bomb did because the Japanese would have never gave up if they were just being fire bombed. An invasion would kill more people as a whole because Americans and Japanese would be dying. The US should not apologize for it because in the long run it probably saved American and Japanese lives
ReplyDeleteI do believe that dropping the bomb was the best decision for ending the war. I believe this because the Japanese were giving no hints that they were gonna end the war on their own or surrendering. I also do think that the United States owe Japan an apology because even though we knew that we were going to be causing many casualties, I do not think that we expected the reality of it all and we surely did not think about the damage that would be caused overall.
ReplyDeleteBased on the position President Truman was in, I believe dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision. Everyone just wanted the war to be over and this was the only sure fire way to do that. The other options would've lead to other complications, causing the war to proceed. Factoring in that Truman gave the Japanese many chances to surrender but they didn't give up,and the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, we do not owe them an apology for bombing them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think we should apologize for the bombing, but perhaps the aftereffects. We didn't know it would cause such horrible things to happen even after exploding.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Harry Truman's decision to drop the Atomic Bomb was the right thing to do. The atomic bomb would defiantly get Japan to surrender faster given their situation at the time. Japan was all ready weak,and the bomb would basically end the war. I do not think that we owe Japan an apology because they secretly attacked us with absolutely no warning. The U.S. had at least said there was going to be mass destruction in Japan if they did not surrender.
ReplyDeleteI think Harry Truman made the right decision to drop the atomic bomb because it was the quickest way to end the war. Even though it doesn't seem like it helped Japan i think it did because they would have lost even more people if they kept letting the U.S firebomb them. The atomic did kill thousands of innocent people in Japan, but many more would have been killed due to their will to fight for their country.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the U.S owes an apology to Japan because as Vicky said they bombed us with no warning, and we gave them the choice to surrender, and told them what would happen if they didn't.
I think president Truman made the right decision Japan showed no signs of surrendering or backing down, even after the first A-bomb they didn't surrender. The U.S. owes japan an apology for the radiation sickness that the bomb caused, but not for the bomb itself because it was a war. Had it not ended the war there probably would have been many more deaths as a result.
ReplyDeleteI think that Truman made the right decision to bombing Japan. I also think that if he had not used the atomic bomb fighting would have most likely gone on for a while. The atomic bomb made things go faster and it ended WWII altogether. Also, if we had kept fighting Japan would just have lost more people. I don't think that we owe Japan an apology because Truman told them what was coming their way. It is their fault that they did not take him seriously or believe that he was going to some serious damage.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah, I think Truman made the right decision using the Atoimic bomb. I think this because the A-Bomb ended the war so much more effectivly than the fire bombings. It also made any country think twice before they messed with us. I think that if Truman didnt use the bomb than it would have caused so many more causalties (500,000-1,000,000).
ReplyDeleteNo I don't think that we should apologize for bombing Japan because we gave them warning and told them they would recieve distruction if they didn't surrender. And they didn't so it was their own fault that they got bombed. Plus it was the Japanese fault that the war started if they had stopped attacking the Chinese when the Americans asked than the whole war wouldnt have really started with the Japanese. So I don't think we should apologize.
I think that President Truman made the right choice in using the atomic bomb because it was the only option guaranteed to get the Japanese to surrender right away. The technology of the bomb was so new that there was no way the japanese would know how to defend against it, plus it was a surprise attack so they wouldn't be prepared. I don't think that the U.S.A owes Japan an apology because of what they did to Pearl Harbor and throughout the war, and because of what our motives were. We used the bomb to put an end to WWII, which was completely necessary and benefited the whole world.
ReplyDeleteI think that President Truman made the right decision when using the A-Bomb on Japan. It ended the war quickly and cost less American lives. Even though there are some downsides to using the Atomic bomb, the overall effect it had on the war outweighed the consequences. Some may argue that we would not have this horrible weapon if it was not for Oppenheimer and the Manhattan project, but that is just not true. If United States had not invented the Atomic bomb, someone else would have. In fact, at the time that the Manhattan project was going on, Adolf Hitler was also trying to build a bomb that also tried to harness the energy of splitting atoms. So, even though there are a few downsides, President Truman made the right choice to drop the Atomic bomb.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that The United States owes Japan an apology. First of all, President Truman did warn them that, if they did not back down, they would face "utter destruction". Also, The reason that America dropped the bomb in the first place was to end the war that Japan was extending. The United States does not owe Japan an apology because Japan had a chance to answer and agree to the ultimatum and America did it to end a very destructive war.
In making the decision of bombing Japan, it can be seen in both ways, as on one hand, the research and work had been going into the Manhattan Project, and it would overall be a waste of time and energy not to use it. It would also be a silly idea to let the other side just know that they were winning and we were weaker than they had been. On the other hand, just repeating what the other side had done was a bit childish, more something such as "getting even" or "revenge" on the other side. It wasn't necessary, but I understand both directions why and why not the President would decide to and not to bomb the Japanese after what they had done to the U.S.
ReplyDeleteIf we owe Japan an apology, they should apologize first as they had (excuse my infancy) started it, and it was simply saying that we were not going to stand there and take it.
I think that dropping the atomic bomb was the right decision. People just wanted the war to end, and dropping the atomic bomb was the only way to make the war end. I don't think that the United States owes Japan an apology for bombing them because they had plenty of warning and we bombed them to end the war. Ending the war is something that will benefit everybody, leaving Japan in peace.
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe Harry truman made the corecct desicion. In a strange way he managed to take the least amount of lives using the atom bomb, and end the war in one quick motion. It gained us respect from our rivals, Russia, and made people think twice before going to war again. Japan does not deserve an apology they brought the bomb upon them selves, and paid the price for starting a war with us.
ReplyDeleteI feel Harry Truman made the correct choice. It may not seem like it, but he saved alot of lives by dropping the bomb. Many more lives would have been lost if we had invaded. Not only did dropping the bombs end World War II, it also helped America to show the rest of the world, if you mess with us, get ready to be bombed. In no way do we owe Japan an apology. War is war. They bombed Pear Harbor, are they apologizing to us?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Trevor. I believe President Truman made the correct choice. He did save million's of lives and also he saved millions of dollars and many resources too. It was a tough decision but sometimes the right thing to do is the hardest. I do not think we owe Japan any apologies for what we did. They have done many horrible things to us and others throughout history and yet they are not giving out any sorry notes. Plus they attacked us first, which doesn't quite mean we should bomb them but when we tried it another way, they refused to back down. We did what we had to and that's that.
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