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This is a question that many different people have argued about, with no clear outcome one way or the other.

On the one hand, the proponents of dropping the atomic bomb say that it saved millions of Japanese and Allied lives by ending the war early and preventing the need for an Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands, which the Japanese would have defended fiercely (it would have been far more bloody that the American/Canadian/British landings at Normandy).

On the other hand, by August 1945 there was clearly no way Japan could have won the war. Its forces were short of equipment, fuel and manpower, its cities had been razed by US bombing, its factories were destroyed, its lack of shipping meant that the population was at risk of starvation, and, most importantly, the Soviet Union had just declared war and was preparing to invade Japan from the north. The Japanese cabinet was divided 50-50 between those who supported unconditional surrender and those who did not; it was clear to all of them that Japan had to surrender sooner or later.

Many people have suggested that the Soviet threat was actually the main reason that prompted the Japanese government to finally surrender, not the bombings themselves.

Secondly, many people argue that the use of atomic weapons, especially against civilians, is clearly a war crime and if the Germans or Japanese had ever used them they would have been tried and possibly even executed after the war. The only reason that the allies got away with it is that they won the war.

The debate continues.

Assuming by "America-Japan war" you mean World War II, it's widely debated whether Japan "deserved" to be bombed or not. It's a completely subjective question.

Japan did terrible things during World War II particularly to the Chinese, but by the time the Enola Gay was headed for Japan, Japan's situation was already dire (most of Japan's cities had been fire-bombed, its citizens were starving, etc.) and they were in talks with Russia to surrender.

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12y ago

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