The Hiroshima and Nagasaki Bombing: Was it Justified?
Oliver Stone argues in the documentary that the two atomic bombings in Japan were completely unnecessary, and to a certain extent unjustifiable. Oliver stone argues that the "desperate" use of the bomb as explicitly "justified" by President Truman could have been avoided if President Truman had been willing to accept Japan's terms of surrender, and if President Truman hadn’t let his political motives get in the way of his moral decisions. One particular evidence revealed in the video was that the Japanese had initially planned to surrender to the Soviets in fear of their Red Army; however, their message to the Soviets were intercepted by the Americans and never reached Moscow. Truman predicted that if the Russians accepted Japan’s surrender and reached a compromise which would likely be in favour of the Soviets, they would be able to extend their influence over the Pacific in the East, thus undermining the U.S.’s own influence in the region. It is because of such implications that Truman decided to reject Japan’s surrender, and instead, called for “unconditional surrender” from the Japanese in order to end the war. There were many other instances where it was likely for the Japanese to surrender if Truman hadn’t “manipulated” the Allied’s terms of surrender for the Japanese, along with their ambiguous statement calling for an “unconditional surrender". For example, the U.S. vetoed against Stalin signing a document listing their terms to end the war (?) which would be offered to Japan. Cognizant of the Japanese’s fear of the Soviet’s Red Army, and realising that Japan would admit to defeat immediately upon the Soviet’s publicized entry into the war, Truman prevented Stalin from signing the document; perhaps to secure the opportunity to utilize and find a justification for using the atomic bomb. Truman had been advised on numerous occasions by scientists and other officials to not use the bomb, and to offer surrendering terms that would spare the emperor; their counsel was neglected, and Truman still believed [and announced] that the only way to end the war was by dropping the atomic bomb. The Nagasaki bombing was even more unjustifiable, seeing that the Soviet’s invasion into Manchuria prior the bombing was enough to make Japan yield to the Allied powers and accept defeat.
Why did the United States drop two atomic bombs on Japan, and was the atomic bombing justified?
The United States dropped two atomic bombs in Japan because they believed that it was the quickest way to put an end to the war, and to prevent further American casualties from sending in ground troops instead; however, despite this historical "justification" by President Truman and his supporters, based on new evidenced that has surfaced in recent years, the atomic bombing was not in any way justified. I would argue that the greatest motive behind the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was to exhibit the U.S.'s military capability and political power to intimidate the Russians. Furthermore, Japan would have conceded defeat without both of the atomic bombs if President Truman had: 1) not demanded for an "unconditional surrender" or simply declared to the Japanese that their emperor would be free from harm; 2) revealed the Soviet Union's position and alliance with the United States in defeating Japan. The Japanese had initially planned to surrender to the Soviet Union; however, in fear of the Soviet's growing influence in the Eastern Hemisphere, the United States intercepted the message and rejected their plead and would only accept "unconditional surrender." Moreover, the Nagasaki bombing had been even more unjustified, because the Soviets had immediately launched a series of attacks on Japan after the first bombing (which had been unsuccessful at persuading the Japanese to surrender), yet before the Japanese could react to these attacks or give in to the Russian forces, the U.S. dropped yet another bomb within the next few hours of the first one. Dropping the bomb on Nagasaki had been more to undermine the Soviet's credit in Japan's defeat rather than to end the war itself, since it was evident that without the bomb, the Japanese would have capitulated to the Red Army anyways. During the time of their surrender, the Japanese mentioned very little about the atomic bomb, and seemed to have attributed their surrender to the Soviet's attack.
Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)