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The Decision to Drop the Bomb

The Decision to Drop the Bomb The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb On December 7, 1941, Japan bombed the United States naval facility known as Pearl Harbor. This attack brought the United States into World War Two. Within the four years that followed, the United States--under the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt-- researched and developed an atomic bomb. This was known as the Manhattan Project. Such a bomb was more powerful and destructive than any ever known to man. After FDR died on April 12, 1945, the decision to drop the bomb was left in the hands of the new president, Harry S. Truman. On July 25, 1945, President Truman gave the order to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Twelve days later, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, exploding with the force of 15,000 tons of TNT and reaching 5400 degrees Fahrenheit instantly (Gup 80). Six days later, Nagasaki was hit with a second atomic bomb. These decisions changed society's perception of warfare for generations to come. Thousands of lives were ended. Most of these were civilians and prisoners of war. There were several alternatives to dropping the bomb. The introduction of this weapon began a nuclear arms race. Some say that the atomic bomb saved lives, yet thousands were killed. President Harry Truman made the wrong decision in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the bombs killed thousands of civilians. When the bomb hit Hiroshima, 350,000 people were exposed (Gup 89). The population of the city of Hiroshima was about 290,000. Of these, 40,000 were military and 20,000 were Korean forced laborers. There have even been records showing that there were at least 23 American POW's murdered (Gup 89). When the bomb dropped, between 80,000 and 100,000 people were killed (Stokesbury 494). Most of these were civilians. By the end of the year, 140,000 more people were dead as a result of radiation from the blast. (Note: these figures may vary slightly due to the fact that many records were destroyed in the blast (Gup 89) . Similar losses were shown in Nagasaki. Many lives were ended as a result of this unnatural disaster, most of them civilian. The people that did not die immediately suffered severe illness related to the bomb (Hiroshima 1) . Many of these people later died (Hiroshima 1) . Thosse who didn't die had severe radiation-related diseases, such as cancer (Hiroshima 1) . Many survivors had grotesque burns on their bodies making them outcasts from society. (Gup 90) All pregnancies within a two-mile radius of the center of the blast resulted in miscarriage or stillbirth (Bloomfield 1-3). Moreover, not a single plant would take root for seventy-five years after the bomb (Gup 80). Furthermore, entire communities were lost. Seventy-thousand buildings were destroyed (Gup 80). These include schools, churches, hospitals, homes, and people's businesses. For the 100,000 hibakush, or survivors of the bomb, their lives are still tortured by the memories (Gup 99). The United States had no idea of the long- In dropping the bombs on Hirshima and Nagasaki, the United States violated several international laws ratified by the United States Senate (Laws 1-12) . A treaty called The Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague, IV) was ratified by the United States Senate on March 10, 1908(Laws 1-12). In this international legislation, there are two articles worth mentioning: Article 15, "The attack or bombardment of towns, villages, habitations or buildings which are not defended, is prohibited." ( qtd. in Laws 1- 12); and Article 16, "The Commander of an attacking force, before commencing a bombardment, except in case of an assault, should do all he can to warn the authorities." (qtd. in Laws 1-12). Yet another example of this is the Nuremburg Principles signed August 8,1945, by the USA, USSR, Britain and France at the Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Laws 1-12). Here, Article 6 is noteworthy: " The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual responsibility:.. War Crimes: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include.... plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation,...murder,...and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian populations, before or during the war." (qtd. in Laws 1-12). This document was signed three days after dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and one day before dropping the bomb on Nagasaki (Laws 1-12). There were several alternatives to the bomb which would have been far less costly. In the Franck Report, one of these suggestions is mentioned: "...a demonstration of the new weapon might best be made before the eyes of representatives of all the United Nations...America could say, 'You see what sort of weapon we had but did not use. We are ready to renounce its use in the future if other nations join us in this renunciation and agree to the establishment of an efficient international control." (qtd. in Brison 5). Another alternative to dropping the bomb could simply have been waiting. Several highly involved people believed that the Japanese were ready to surrender. "Japan was at that very moment seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'...it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing." said General Eisenhower (qtd. in Bloomfield 1-3). Fleet Admiral Leahy said, "The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of an effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons....in being the first to use it [the atomic bomb], we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages." (qtd. in Bloomfield 1-3). Ralph Bard was the Undersecretary of the Navy and a member of a secret advisory group on the atomic bomb, called the Interim Committee. He said this in a letter he wrote about alternatives to using the bomb known as the Bard Memorandum: "...I have had the feeling that the Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender." (qtd. in Bard 1-2). If after one or both of these attempts were tried and failed, at the very least a warning should be offered to Japan. Undersecretary Bard also mentioned in his letter, "...before the bomb is actually used against Japan, Japan should have some preliminary warning for say two or three days in advance of use. The position of the United States as a great humanitarian nation and the fair play attitude of our people generally is responsible in the main for this The introduction of this weapon to the world began the arms race, Cold War and changed the face of war as it was known. Leo Szilard was a scientist working on the Manhattan Project, but was against using the bomb. He had only developed it as a means of retaliation in case another nation were to use a similar weapon against the United States With 58 co-signers, Szilard wrote a petition known as the Szilard Petition against the use of the atomic bomb on Japan. In this petition he stated, "...a nation which sets the precedent of using these newly liberated forces of nature for purposes of destruction may have to bear the responsibility of opening the door to an era of devastation on an unimaginable scale." (Szilard 1-2). As a result of the atomic bomb an arms race known as the Cold War began between the United States and the USSR. Bomb shelters were built in families' backyards instead of swimming pools. To accompany reading, writing, and arithmatic, kids were taught bomb drills and what to do in case of nuclear fallout. As mentioned in the Franck report, even though the United States was the first to develop the bomb, the fundamentals were already known by France, Germany, Britain, and the USSR. If the United States had made arrangements with these countries not to use nuclear weapons before the it had dropped the bomb, a treaty might have been possible. Since the United States had already utilized this knowledge, such an agreement had become almost impossible (Brison 5). As mentioned in the Szilard Petition, the bomb made "total annihilation of cities" possible (qtd. in Szilard 1-2). The size of a country's arsenal, military or even geography had become irrelevant for the first time (Brison 3) . One argument for the bomb is that it saved lives by ending the war quicker. Whose lives were saved by dropping the most deadly bomb known to man on to a civilian population? It certainly did not save the lives of the 350,000 people exposed. It did not save the lives of the 80,000 killed in Hiroshima, nor the 40,000 instantly killed in Nagasaki (Stokesbury 494). It certainly did not save the lives of the 140,000 people that died by the end of the year. Some might argue that it saved the lives of Allied soldiers leading an invasion. By this they mean that Japanese civilians and non-combatants were more deserving of death than soldiers. According to an article in National Geographic, "...an Allied invasion with massive casualties was unlikely." (qtd. in Gup 98). However, an atomic explosion with massive casualties is very likely. The other main argument is that this ended the war. Evidence previously mentioned has shown that Japan had already lost the war and was ready to give up. An enemy in a war that is over needs to be defeated like water that needs to get wet or fire that needs to get hot. In conclusion there was absolutely no reason to drop the atomic bomb. Thousands of lives were lost. Several thousands more were destroyed. Alternatives were not explored thoroughly. The dropping of the atomic bomb began a nuclear arms race and made war more deadly than it had ever been before. Lastly, it did not save lives or end the war quicker, as its supporters say. According to the Franck Report, Americans at the time did not support using poison gas even if it did speed up the war. The effects of the atom bomb were much worse, but a public pole could not be taken because of the secrecy of the Manhattan project (Brison 5) . Szilard had said that the individual Germans share the guilt for what their country did, because they could not speak up without risking to their lives and liberty. Americans can protest with out running such a risk and they should (Szilard 1-2) . Bibliography: Works Cited Bard, Ralph A. Atomic Bomb: Ralph Bard's Alternative to A-Bombing Japan. [Online] Available http://www.he.net/~douglong/bard.htm. 3/4/98. Berkin, Carol, et al. A History of the United States Volume II: 1865 to the Present American Voices. Glenview, Illinois: Scott Foresman and Company, 1992. Bloomfield, Janet. Why it Was Unnecessary to Drop the Atomic Bomb. [Online] Available http://www.oneworld.org/news/world/bloomfield.htm. 3/4/98. Brison, P. Research Resourse Packet (Bender, David L., Publisher Opposing Viewpoints in American History, Volume II: From Reconstruction to the Present. San Diego, Green Haven Press, Inc., 1996.) Gordon, Thomas and Max M. Witts. Enola Gay. New York: Stein and Day, 1977. Gup, Ted. "Hiroshima- Up From Ground Zero." National Geographic August 1995: 78-99. International Law -- Bombing of Civilians. [Online] Available http://www.peak.org/~danneng/decision/int-law.html. 3/4/98. (note: in-text documentaion listed as, "Laws") The Outline of Atomic Bomb damage in Hiroshima. [Online] Available http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/City/3-1-4.html. 3/8/98. (note: in-text documentaion listed as, "Hiroshima") Stokesbury, James L. "World War II." World Book Encyclopedia. 1992 ed. Szilard, Leo. Atomic Bomb: Decison -- Szilard Petition Version 1, July 3, 1945. [Online] Available http://www.peak.org/~danneng/decision/45-07-03.html. 3/4/98.

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