Why did the US want to use nuclear weapons in world war 2?

Answer 1

This a controversial issue which has sparked debate and interest for decades. Although there may be many motives as to the reason why the United States chose to attack Japan with nuclear weapons, the following is my interpretation. America wanted to remain a neutral party during WW2 recognizing that European nations had gotten themselves into another fiasco shortly after American intervention was needed to resolve the first world war in the earlier part of the century. During America's neutrality, it did find the time and effort to send supplies and aid to England and moved its Pacific naval fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor as Japanese aggression in the Pacific grew stronger. The Japanese invasion of China angered Americans which led to sanctions which led to Japan bombing Pearl Harbor which led to America declaring war on all of the Axis nations (Japan, Germany, Italy). The attack on Pearl Harbor angered Americans deeply and the people had a truly powerful reason for hating the Japanese. As war went on with the Japanese and the Germans, America progressed through Europe and the Pacific, gaining key ground and winning key battles. The war in the Pacific was particularly brutal and unforgiving as the Japanese often used guerrilla warfare, suicide operations, and tortured and killed prisoners. There were often times when no Japanese survivors were found because they had either all been killed or had killed themselves before surrender. Needless to say, every inch gained by American forces were paid for with thousands of lives. In 1945, the Germans surrendered and all was lost for the Axis nations. However, Japan kept on a hopeless campaign against America. Americans had been at war for almost four years and the cost and bitterness of war was draining on the people. America took the island of Okinawa (southern island of mainland Japan) and in doing so encountered heavy resistance by soldiers and civilians alike. There is even real live footage of civilians running and jumping off of cliffs to their deaths (babies in hand) to avoid the "savage" Americans that their government told them would rape, torture, and kill them. After Pearl Harbor, savage fighting for four years with little to no humility, tortured and killed prisoners, the United States decided to drop the bomb on Hiroshima and end the tyranny of the Japanese empire. Some experts estimated that 1,000,000 more American lives would have been lost if a full scale invasion of Japan had to be undertaken. That's almost 3 times the amount of fallen American soldiers in the entire war. The bomb was in my opinion the best way to end the war quickly and preserve life for the majority. To go even further....Japan surprisingly did NOT surrender after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. It took 2 atom bombs to bring the Japanese to surrender. It was a terrible loss for the people of Japan but saved hundreds of thousands of American lives along with the lives of all others who suffered at the hands of the Japanese empire.