To_Bomb_or_Not_to_Bomb

To Bomb or Not to Bomb essay There have been many debates over whether or not the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb on Japan. Did the ends justify the means' Was it necessary to drop two' I believe it was not. Too many were killed and there must have been another way to end the war. August of 1945 was a tough time for not only the United States, but for the world. It was a time where paranoia was common and fear was a part of everyday life. But still, life held some of its everyday routines, and life for the most part was normal. But in Japan thousands were killed on a day that started like any other. It, still, is not known how many lives were taken but about 250,000 are estimated. To me, taking that many innocent lives is never justified. Those people had families; mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, and they were taken from each other in a fight that they didn’t have a choice in. Those who didn’t die in the first blast still had more horrors to face. The white light of the bomb burned “shadows” of bodies onto walls and streets, images which are literally burned into the city forever, as a permanent reminder of the horrors of those days. Within minutes, 9 out of 10 people half a mile or less from ground zero were dead. In those areas most seriously affected virtually no one escaped serious injury. Many small fires erupted all around the city soon merged into one large firestorm, creating extremely strong winds that blew towards the center of the fire. The firestorm eventually overtook about 4.4 square miles of the city, killing anyone who had not escaped in the minutes after the attack, which was very few because it was estimated that less than 4.5 % of survivors suffered leg fractures, and this is because those who couldn’t walk were engulfed in flames. The horrors that these people faced I believe no one should be or have ever been subjected to. The radiation caused even more deaths weeks after. Radiation effects were not at first apparent, it was only after time when cancers and the permanent effects on living survivors set in. The death rate began to climb after the bombings as more and more died. Many patients who seemed to be on their way to recovery suddenly grew ill of mysterious new sicknesses. Deaths from radiation sickness did not reach its highest until about three weeks after the attacks and did not cut off until seven weeks after. Even if they were lucky enough to escape the bombing and radiation sickness, the lingering possibilities of cancer hung around for the rest of their lives. But was it all really needed' I say no. Japan is said to have been planning for a surrender so was it necessary to kill so many when there may not have needed to have been any more lives lost than there had already been' No, I feel it was a brutal act to show who was the most powerful and to cause fear in other countries. In the end it backfired all the U.S. got was a guilty conscience, a new enemy with soviet Russia, a cold war, and a worldwide arms race. So in my opinion, no, the ends do not justify the means, at all. It was a brutal act on innocent civilians and on an already weak country. The war could have come to an end some other, more peaceful, way.