Was it right for the US to use nuclear bombs against Japan?

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Main topic: Humanities
Short answer: It depends on how do we justify it on the grounds of morality or the greater good

It depends on how do we justify it on the grounds of morality or the greater good? At that time there were two options with US and both of those options will be discussed in the subpages below

First option: Operation Downfall[edit]

Map of Operation Downfall as proposed by US armed forces

Operation Downfall was a proposed Allied plan for the invasion of Japanese home islands it was a plan Drafted by General Douglas MacArthur and then Fleet Admiral of US navy Chester Nimitz and the Joint Chief of Staff. The primary concern was to deal with casualties and time as Imperial army of japan was very suicidal they had other plans to deal with the Americans[1] as Japanese had developed manned torpedo's [2][3] and was training every man for the defense of homeland from High school girls to even the Elders[1] So according to the estimate the allied casualties

  • In a study done by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April, the figures of 7.45 casualties/1,000 man-days and 1.78 fatalities/1,000 man-days were developed. This implied that a 90-day Olympic campaign would cost 456,000 casualties, including 109,000 dead or missing. If Coronet took another 90 days, the combined cost would be 1,200,000 casualties, with 267,000 fatalities.[4]
  • A study done by Adm. Nimitz's staff in May estimated 49,000 casualties in the first 30 days, including 5,000 at sea. A study done by General MacArthur's staff in June estimated 23,000 in the first 30 days and 125,000 after 120 days. When these figures were questioned by General Marshall, MacArthur submitted a revised estimate of 105,000, in part by deducting wounded men able to return to duty.[4]
  • In a conference with President Truman on June 18, Marshall, taking the Battle of Luzon as the best model for Olympic, thought the Americans would suffer 31,000 casualties in the first 30 days (and ultimately 20 percent of Japanese casualties, which implied a total of 70,000 casualties). Adm. Leahy, more impressed by the Battle of Okinawa, thought the American forces would suffer a 35 percent casualty rate (implying an ultimate toll of 268,000). Admiral King thought that casualties in the first 30 days would fall between Luzon and Okinawa, that is, between 31,000 and 41,000.[4]

and as the war dragged nearer to the homeland the battles became fierce US

lost around 75,000 – 82,000 men[5]. Now the question arises it it morally right to scarifies the lives of this many American for winning war.

Second option: Nuclear Bomb[edit]

While these plan were being developed the US was simultaneously was working on Manhattan project was being developed

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 What if America Had Invaded Japan? (Operation Downfall), retrieved 2022-10-11
  2. ↑ Roblin, Sebastien (2016-12-09). "Why Japan's Crazy World War II Kamikaze Suicide Torpedoes Never 'Hit the Target'". The National Interest. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  3. ↑ "Kaiten: Japan's fully-manned kamikaze torpedos". warhistoryonline. 2021-10-07. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Operation Downfall - New World Encyclopedia". www.newworldencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  5. ↑ "Battle of Okinawa", Wikipedia, 2022-10-06, retrieved 2022-10-11
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