Reference no: EM131700555

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan, ushering in the atomic age. The world was shocked at the level of destruction atomic weapons could unleash on their targets. An entire city essentially destroyed by a single bomb! It was simply unprecedented. Three days later, the United States dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki. Japan surrendered within days, thus ending World War II, the bloodiest war the world had ever known.

In the years following the end of the war, many began to ponder what those mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki would mean to the future of humankind. Some openly questioned President Harry Truman's decision to authorize the use of atomic bombs. It is a debate that continues to this day.

What do you think? The Truman administration argued that the United States used the atomic bombs to end the war sooner and save countless lives of American servicemen.

Does this reason justify the extermination of thousands of innocent Japanese civilians? And is it possible that we didn't have to use the bombs at all, that we could've ended the war relatively quickly without atomic weapons, and that Truman and his advisers had ulterior motives for dropping the bombs?