What alternatives were available to president Truman during th atomic bomb?

Answer 1

The alternative to the A-bomb would be a long series of battles, hopping from one well-fortified island beachhead to another. Each battle would cost many lives, destroy much expensive equipment and take considerable time, maybe years.

Answer 2

Truman WAS using every available option:

• multiple nightly thousand plane firebombing raids (each of which killed roughly the same number of Japanese as each atomic bomb did)
• preparing for 2 "D-day" invasions (each larger than the Normandy D-day invasion) one in late october or early november 1945 and the second in spring of 1946
• stockpiling of various chemical weapons (e.g. nerve gas, mustard gas) to be used against the Japanese during the invasions if necessary (even though this use was a violation of the Geneva Conventions and would thus automatically become a war crime)
• 23 atomic bombs were planned for production and use in 1945 and more in 1946 and beyond if necessary (the 3 Hanford reactors and the Oak Ridge enrichment plants were the "bottleneck" limiting production and no "stockpile" would exist as "the bombs are to be used as they become available")
• etc.

Fortunately the first 2 atomic bombs made the invasions, chemical weapons, and later atomic bombs unnecessary as well as allowing the nightly firebombing raids to stop. Had the atomic bombs not been used all of the other options would have been used (including the chemical weapons, I am quite sure) and the war could have lasted into 1947 if not later. The population of Japan would have been decimated! Which would you have prefered?

Answer 3

See atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Answer 4

loosing more service men sending them to Japan's main land.

Answer 5

Not to drop it.

Drop it elsewhere.