Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman
Maybe this is a different issue, but wasn't dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the biggest mistake? 200,000+ civilians were killed immediately, and thousands more in the months afterwards.
Were these actions necessary?
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Arguable. Many think the death toll had the bomb not been dropped and a traditional forced surrender happened could have been 10X this. Not to mention the continued loss of life from the Japanese occupation of Asia, which was comparable in many ways to the German occupation of Europe.
Edit: Source
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_war_II
The alternative was "Operation Downfall"
Prior to making the decision, Truman was given an estimate of 1.4-4 million allied casualties as well as millions of Japanese and Asian casualties. Yes The few hundred thousand who died in the bombings is tragic, but when faced w/ the alternative...