Was Truman Animal Testing Justified

Name: Course Instructor: Class: Date: Critical Book Review: Prompt and Utter Destruction Introduction Within weeks, word on the US dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki began to spread that the main reason behind the bombs was to save the lives of Americans (Bernard). It was put that hundreds of thousands of American military causalities were saved through the bombings.

As stated in document A, President Truman believed that it was his duty as president to use every weapon available to save American lives. By making the decision to employ atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it successfully brought an end to World War II. Now, while these bombs did ultimately spare thousands of American lives, it did also put an end to about 200,000 lives as shown in document E. Document A stated that Admiral William Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opposed using the bomb because it killed civilians indiscriminately. He believed that an economic blockade and conventional bombing would convince Japan to surrender. As an opposite end of the spectrum though Truman’s advisor, James Byrnes thought that the use of “the A-bombs would not only cause Japan to surrender, but also impress the Soviet Union, and hopefully stop its expansion” (Doc C).

"There was a very strong possibility that the Japanese government might choose to resist until the very end"(Doc B). The argument for dropping the atomic bomb is strong because Truman knew that the war was going to cost and last way more if he didn't just use the bombs to end the war with them. This shows that he had all the right to just stop this madness and end the war quickly, easily, and fast. He knew that Japan wasn't going to surrender most likey so he was sick of his troops dying for no

Once Truman decided to drop the bombs, he needed to decide which cities to target based on military importance. Truman decided to treat the Japanese the same way they treated the United States

Japan was very close to collapsing and they knew that if they didn’t make this agreement they would have to fight till the death, which is exactly what they did, Japan chose not to surrender. People also believe that Truman was justified to use the bomb because people believe that if he didn’t Japan would have used theirs and then we would have been hurting. Japan was very close to discovering this weapon and would have been very quick to use it. All of this was simply a race and the survival of the

Afterwards, the United States declared war on Japan, and joined allies against the axis powers. The United States’ use of the atomic bombs is justified because it saved American lives; Japan was given fair warning, and their aggressions towards the U.S. The atomic bombs on Japan saved many American lives. Document 15 reads: The entire population of Japan is

Sure, Truman may have realized that he might be able to “put down” the Soviet Union and force the Japanese to surrender, sort of a kill two birds with one stone. However, implying that this was the impelling reason for President Truman wanting to drop the bomb is absurd. Two major pieces of evidence used in this argument are the fact that the Soviet Union’s entry into the war almost certainly pressured the Japanese into surrender, and that General Dwight D. Eisenhower asked Secretary of War Henry L Stimson personally to not drop the bomb while at Potsdam. With the Soviet Union’s entry into the war, it was only likely that Japan would surrender. If they didn’t, that would still lead to Operation Downfall, and that was not an option President Truman wanted.

After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands, President Truman dropped two atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Since then, there has been arguments whether the bombs should have been dropped or not. President Truman’s choice to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was really the only option he had back then. Today, the bombs that President Truman dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is thought as a horrible event, but Truman dropped the bombs to save American and Japanese lives, and in the end, shortened the war. Before President Truman decidecd to drop the two atomic bombs, the war with the Japanese had no end insight.

The war could easily end if the atomic bomb was dropped yet many innocent people would be killed. Truman had 2 other options to consider, he could send American troops to Japan but was at risk of many casualties. Truman's last option was to drop the bomb and give Japan a warning prior to using the bomb which is exactly what the president decided on. Although using the bomb brought the war to a quick end, not only did the U.S. not give a proper warning to Japan, but many innocent people died.

Specifically, as I have stated above, the Japanese had an extremely strong will and would not surrender even if they had lost many of their men. According to “Arguments Supporting the Bomb” by Michael Barnes, “Some in the leadership argued that there was no way the Americans could have refined enough fissionable material to produce more than one bomb. But then the bombing of Nagasaki had demonstrated otherwise, and a lie told by a downed American pilot convinced War Minister Korechika Anami that the Americans had as many as a hundred bombs. . . Even so, hours of meetings and debates lasting well into the early morning hours of the 10th still resulted in a 3-3 deadlock. Prime Minister Suzuki then took the unprecedented step of asking Emperor Hirohito”.

In fact, Ralph A. Bard, Undersecretary of the Navy wrote to Secretary of War Stimson in a June 27, 1945 memorandum. “I define this decision as an emotional and reckless decision, Japanese government may be searching for some opportunity which they could use as a medium of surrender” (Bard). In fact, the Japanese government expressed desire to end the war, and would have accepted conditional surrender before the mainland invasion in November. The reason for dropping the bomb was forcing Japan to surrender unconditionally. In America’s opinion, Japan had lost the war; they did not have any capital to negotiate with.

President Truman and his associates believed that if they dropped the bomb they would receive surrender from Japan. Thus, saving millions of American lives, and ending the war. Nevertheless, by saving American lives they would sacrifice thousands of Japanese civilians. They had other idea to have Japan to surrender, but were willing to take the one that would have the most consequences. They were thinking too much about the US instead of creating actually peace within the nations.

The dropping of the bombs were necessary and fair due to the refusal of the Japanese to surrender, the millions of lives saved by a quick end to the war, and the warnings given to the Japanese. To begin, the Japanese soldiers have it ingrained in their brains that it is dishonorable to surrender. The author of Drop the Bomb as agreed by saying that “the Japanese have demonstrated a willingness to fight to the death”. During the war there were many times for the Japanese to surrender, but it was never done. With this in mind, they would have continued to drag out the war, which shows that dropping the bombs sped up the war which lessened the casualties.

Japan was weakening, “The food situation gradually becoming worse and worse…” Stated in source H. America had many industrial resources to use against Japan and so Japan had essentially been defeated. Japan pushed only for the sake of their countries honour as the shame of unconditional surrender goes against their code of honour. Furthermore a warning was given to Japan with America promising to drop the atomic bomb, however there was no evidence and so it could have easily been deemed a bluff. An American nuclear scientist stated, “A demonstration of the bomb best be made… Japan could then be asked to surrender.” This source seems somewhat reliable as it is from one of the American scientists and they would know the strength of the bomb.

However, the Japanese were committed to fight to the bitter end of the war and see it all the way through, regardless of the fact that the United States demanded unconditional surrender from the small country of islands. This further emphasizes that since the Japanese were not simply going to give up, Truman came to the conclusion that in order to save millions of lives, he had to take thousands. President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Japan to warn the world about the new found power of the United States, force an unconditional surrender of the Japanese, and save millions of lives. With the controversy over whether or not Truman should have dropped the bomb, some consider the decision irrational and unnecessary.