Was the dropping of the atom bombs by the US a war crime?

Answer 1

Absolutly not. The dropping of the bomb actually saved lives. The American experience at Okanawa proved the Japanese would not surrender. An invasion of the Japanese homeland by Allie forces would have resulted in far more Japanese deaths than the two bombs created. It would have also resulted in thousands of American casualities. The war was started by Japan, not the U.S. Never forget that. Remember that at the time the bomb was dropped, very few people knew exactly what the results would be from the explosion. Hindsight is always 20/20.

AnswerThe dropping of the Atomic bomb was not a war crime. However, I do not agree with the fact that using the Atomic bomb was justified. Yes, it did save lives, but innocent civilians died for the soldiers. A soldier's duty is to protect his country and people, not to be saved by his people. Civilians do not deserve to die, they have nothing to do with the war. Yes, they might have donated money or materials to support their country, but for them it was the right thing to do. It is immoral to kill innocent people. I know that the Japanese was cruel and inhuman to their enemies, but that doesn't mean you can do the same to them. That only shows you are no different from them. Soldiers are suppose to do whatever it takes to bring victory to their country, even if it means for them to die. The deaths of 1 million soldiers are better than the death of 1 civilian. I am not implying that soldiers are less human than normal people, but it is the soldier's job to die in battle his country and people. The atomic bombs did not save lives, on the contrary, it resulted 200,000 lives of innocent civilians to be lost. Does this sound like democracy?

PS: I am a Chinese, whose country in WW2 suffered 11 million deaths in the hands the Japanese. Out of the 11 million, 10 million were civilians.

Follow up.

It is indeed better for a million soldiers to die for their country than a un-militarized citizen, however you have to step back and look apon it as an American of that time. America was a racist country, not to mention had a want for revenge. This being the case, even if we were to do a full scale invasion, the racial tensions of the soldiers comes into play, and more than likely they wouldn't have cared if the target had a weapon or was un-militarized, they would have just as quickly killed them. so in a sense dropping the bomb did save some lives.