Hiroshima and Nagasaki the untold story Essay -- essays papers

Hiroshima and Nagasaki the untold story On August 6th 1945, the first Atomic Bomb, â€Å"Little Boy,† was dropped on Hiroshima, and three days later on August 9th 1945, the second atomic bomb, â€Å"Fat Man,† was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan’s industrial capital. The decision to use the Atomic Bomb against Japan was a poor one considering the damage, the devastation, and the amount of people left dead, injured, or suffering the loss of a family member or a friend, all for the sake of quickly ending the ongoing War. When the Japanese had realized that they were the only ones left in the war, Germany their ally, was already beaten out of the war and all efforts were now concentrated at them, the Japanese began suing for a peaceful end to the war. Apart from the fact that Japan had been suing for a peaceful end to the war, there were a number of alternative routes of action that the Americans had at their fingertips, and could have taken advantage of at a moment’s notice, which could have possibly sa ved a lot of lives, both American and Japanese. After analyzing the amount of damage and the amount of lives lost as a result of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, it becomes evident that dropping the bomb was not worth a quick end to the war. Much of why Japanese surrender took so long to come through reverts back to the Samurai Tradition in Japan. First, the Emperor didn’t not intervene in political affairs as he was considered to be above such petty human politics, and second, the Japanese code of honor which puts death before dishonor. The Americans had intercepted messages from the Foreign Minister Togo, to Ambassador Sato expressing the desires of the Emperor for a peaceful end to the war,â€Å"[h]is Majesty the Emperor, mindful of the fact that the present war daily brings greaterevil and sacrifice upon the peoples of all belligerent powers, desires from his heart thatit may be quickly terminated† (Alperovitz 23). The desire of the Emperor for an end to the war never came true until both atomic bombs had been dropped on two of Japan’s key industrial cities, as the Emperor never formally expressed this desire. In the samurai tradition, the Emperor is held at a God-like status and therefore, is considered above politics, so therefore he never intervenes, and was never expected to intervene in political issues, his role was to sanction decisions made by the Cabinet, wh... ...Eye Witness Account: Atomic Bomb Mission over Nagasaki." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Lifton, Robert Jay & Mitchell, Greg. Hiroshima in America: Fifty Years of Denial. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons New York, 1995. Long, Doug. " Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?" . 30 Aug. 2000. . . Maag, Carl and Rohrer, Steve. "Project Trinity." EnviroLink. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Stimson, Henry. "Henry Stimson’s Diary and Papers." . 30 Jan. 2000. . . . Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb. Canada: Little, Brown and Company, 1995. The Manhattan Engineer District. "The Atomic Bombings Of Hiroshima and Nagasaki." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . The Manhattan Engineer District. "The Manhattan Project (and Before)." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Trujillo, Gary S. "Hiroshima Witness." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . . Truman, Harry. "Hiroshima: Harry Truman’s Diary and Papers." 30 Jan. 2000. . . . Truman, Harry. "Statement by the President of the United States." Federation of American Scientists. 9 Jan. 2000. . . .