The Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

            The decision that was made to bomb the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was very irresponsible and immoral of the United States government. The use of, not one, but two atomic bombs was absolutely avoidable. The effects of the straight bombing of Japan, as well as the effects of the atomic bombs themselves on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, show how the decision to drop the bombs on the Japanese people had nothing to do with morals or respect for human life. Instead, I will show that the devastation and destruction that those bombs cost, was more about political power than the people that suffered from the bombs. The use of the atom bomb on the Japanese people was undoubtedly a devastating mistake made by the United States government.
             The United States had been bombing Japan for months, and the Japanese people were already becoming weak from nine months of air attacks. The conventional bombing was clearly working. Yet, over four years after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and after nearly a year of the U.S. consistently performing air attacks on Japan, the United States decided that two atomic bombs would be dropped on the Japanese people. Not just the Japanese army, but the Japanese people; women, children, men, animals, homes, etc.On March 9th thru the 10th, 300 American bombers feverishly bombed Tokyo, Japan. That round killed 100,000 innocent people, in a 16 square mile radius in the capital of Japan, and left a million people homeless, with nowhere to go or even a hospital close by to have their injuries treated. "Not only were the Japanese defenses overwhelmed, but Japan's will and capacity for reconstruction, dispersal, and passive defense were less than Germany's" (Spennemman). As you can see, it was clearly stated that Japan was already "overwhelmed," so the use of the atomic bombs was more than extreme.