The bombings set off a nuclear arms race in the Cold War. The United States justified the bombings as a way to save lives by preventing an invasion of mainland Japan to end the war, a view long accepted by many Americans.
But, Gar Alperovitz, author of "Atomic Diplomacy: Hiroshima and Potsdam and the Decision to Use the Atom Bomb," said at a recent online event that documentary records show wartime American leaders knew of Japan's imminent surrender and the bombings were not necessary militarily.
Myself, I am not so sure we knew for a fact that Japan was going to soon surrender. Considering their mindset against surrender (and how they treated enemies who surrendered), I can't think that even with the odds so much against them that they would have surrendered without an extremely huge death and casualty toll n both sides.
However, I would have liked to see a little more time given Japan to surrender without using the atom bombs. Or, perhaps picking a non -populated island to show the power of the bomb.
--GreGen
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