CreateDebate


Debate Info

21
29
YEAH! NO WAY!
Debate Score:50
Arguments:29
Total Votes:60
More Stats

Argument Ratio

side graph
 
 YEAH! (11)
 
 NO WAY! (16)

Debate Creator

Crumble59(174) pic



Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a good thing?

This subject has been rised to my attention. We were discussing this in my english class. Some say that if the Americans had not bombed Japan then Japan would have never surrendered. Others say that atomic bombing Japan, twice, was too far. I would like to remind you that any swearing/bad language on ANY of my debates is not tolerated. Thank you. 

n

Serious debators only. 

YEAH!

Side Score: 21
VS.

NO WAY!

Side Score: 29
No arguments found. Add one!
4 points

Resulted in the Cold War, the nuclear military age, the deaths of hundreds of thousands of little yellow people, other bad stuff. And we ended up giving in to conditional surrender anyway, so it was pointless as well.

Side: NO WAY!
3 points

This is pretty funny: hundreds of people here on CD, pretend to be Judge arrogating the power to acquit a cruelty, as the WW II has been, ignoring a simple common sense which aims to respect the whole world. But surely, you would answer me: "what would have happened if...". How the hell you can even think to be correct killing thousands of people for something that could have happened? Maybe you dont know that people more preparated in history have already talked about this, and them all have agreed and decreed that event the nth mistake of the human race. Of course Usa didnt pay anything for its cruelties, as you can clearly see, they are doing whatever they want to in Middle East: killing civilians, for example. But, yeah, of course this is correct too: what would happen if Usa armies were not in Middle East massacrating civilians??

Side: NO WAY!
3 points

The only argument I see as reasonable for the bombing is to intimidate the Japanese into submission. However, was what was done the only way to do this?

It is perfectly reasonable to me for a nuclear weapon to be used on a deserted island somewhere near Japan, or away from a civilian population, in order to minimize deaths. Obviously this is far from ideal, and would have most probably ended up in thousands of deaths. However, anything that can be done to save tens of thousands more is worth doing.

Ending the war was not wrong, but how the Americans did it was most certainly awful. And the second bomb was completely unnecessary.

It was far from a good thing.

Side: NO WAY!

Okay...I've done a lot of research on this topic, and it certainly doesn't make me as angry as it used to. I can definitely see many of the other arguments now. I acknowledge that it ended the war much earlier, and that a sense of imminence was felt at the time.

But there are still several things wrong with it. First, the whole Japan-would-have-surrendered-anyway argument: Well, would they have? From my perspective, it seemed like they were going to, but guess what? Now we're never going to know. Also, it was immoral, obviously. The ends don't always justify the means, and when taken out of the context of World War II and everything else that was going on at the time, and just looked at as one event, then no one can argue that it wasn't wrong in and of itself.

Also, one of the most disgusting things about it is that the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were pretty much just guinea pigs for the people at the Manhattan Project. And in a way, they had to be, because how else were those guys supposed to figure out what these things could actually do. There was no other was around it, but still...really? There are few things more horrible than doing such a thing.

And while we're talking about the effects, it was kind of inconvenient that the immediate effects of the bomb weren't enough for Japan to surrender, so they refused and got a second bomb dropped on them so quickly. And I know that it would have been impossible for this to happen, but if there had been a way for the Japanese to wait and see all the damage that the nuke did in the first month, then maybe they would have realized it was enough and Nagasaki could have been saved, at least. But instead, Japan got nuked twice, and then they had to surrender, and then the effects really started sinking in.

Similarly, another thing that annoys me about the bombings was that the US was so perfectly manipulative and made sure the Japanese were perfectly caught off-guard so that they could kill as many people as possible. It was the morning of a work day, so there were lots of people around, and no one was hiding in bomb shelters because they correctly thought that their city was safe from being firebombed. And they literally didn't know what hit them or how bad it was going to be. All those things were really the reason that the mission went so perfectly, but at the same time, it's just so unfair!

Finally, while this may not be as relevant a point, I hate the fact that the pilot who dropped the first bomb on Japan, Paul Tibbets, was so obnoxiously patriotic. He was cocky, too; he thought he could do everything, and all he felt during the whole mission was excitement and relief that the mission was perfect. As far as he was concerned, he did what he was told to do, and he felt he should be condemned or that. As for the people on the ground, well, that way "their tough luck for being there."

Side: NO WAY!
2 points

Japan was about to throw in the towel. The only reason why we bombed them was because president Truman wanted to see just how much damage these bombs could do.

Even if you think it was justified somehow, there's simply no way to see such destructive bombing as a "good thing"...

Side: NO WAY!
2 points

I do agree that it was Americas best option, only because the high casualty rates of Okinawa and Iwo jima showed them how many people will die in a D-DAY style invasion. But considering that Nagasaki was a mistake, the original target was a military fortress, and the misfire cost them thousands more then twice the amount of pearl harbor

Side: NO WAY!

Thousands and thousands of women and children were killed. It was an atrocity.

Side: NO WAY!
0 points

It was a stupid, thoughtless, decision.

After the bombings an estimated 60000 people to 70000 people went missing. As well as this, America had a third bomb lined up, but Japan surrendered.

Such a heartless decision is not something that can ever be looked at as a good thing. Just because it may have taken a while longer for anything to happen does not mean that they would not have done. The combined forces against them were too powerful and for them to make such a heartless decision goes against all morals. Thousands of innocent people died. Even worse, a third bomber was lined up to take thousands more innocent lives, and would have done so, too, if Japan had not done the humane thing by deciding on peace.

Side: NO WAY!
nummi(1432) Disputed
3 points

And what do you think would've happened if they were not bombed? Those bombs ended the war. If they had not been used, the war would've gone on longer. But then again, perhaps things would be better if it had gone on longer. No way to currently find out.

And those bombs were an example to everyone - something to learn and avoid if possible and it is always possible to avoid them, assuming people have enough intelligence to not even start a pointless war in the first place.

Some hard decisions are necessary.

The only reason why Japan surrendered was because the alternative was obliteration. There was no humane, nor right, nor wrong, no morals, etc., there was only the thought of survival on Japan's side. If someone threatens to kill you at the cost of some pointless emotional/mental obsession would you give that up or keep on going and die as a result? Survival should in most cases straighten things out.

If they had not used atomic/nuclear bombs someone else would've. Russia for example, you think that would have been better?

Side: YEAH!
Axmeister(4322) Disputed
2 points

"And what do you think would've happened if they were not bombed? Those bombs ended the war. If they had not been used, the war would've gone on longer."

This is a strong American delusion which is mainly used to justify the nuking, Japan was planning to surrender anyway, if America didn't think Japan was going to surrender why did they drop two nuclear bombs?

"And those bombs were an example to everyone - something to learn and avoid if possible and it is always possible to avoid them."

There had already several tests done with the atomic bombs, lessons should have been learnt after the tests instead of killing mainly innocent lives.

"Some hard decisions are necessary"

The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn't necessary.

"If they had not used atomic/nuclear bombs someone else would've. Russia for example, you think that would have been better?"

At least Russia would have had the balls to admit what they did was wrong.

Side: NO WAY!
Micmacmoc(2260) Disputed
0 points

"And what do you think would happen if they were not bombed?"

I think that the world would have been a safer, nicer place. If they had not been bombed the war may have gone on a little longer, but I think that we would have won anyway.

You cannot say, surely, that shortening a war by a few months or years, maybe, justifies killing 70000 innocent people instantly.

"Those bombs ended the war"

They ended the war, but it would've ended anyway.

The fact is that America, for example, has a very strong military force, and without the bombs the still, with allied forces, could have won the war.

Ending the war slightly earlier does not justify taking thousands of innocent lives.

"Things would have been better if it had gone on longer"

Of course it would.

America took thousands of innocent lives on those days and they were prepared to take more just because they were annoyed that their harbour had been attacked, or something. If you think that the war would have been better after those attacks, then you have a severe problem.

"Those bombs were an example to everyone"

Yes, they ruined the reputation of America

Now, whenever people associate things like 'America' and 'war', or 'America' and 'Japan' or 'America' and 'intelligence', people think of how stupid the Americans were that day. People still suffer from the radiation problems from that today and they will do for a while longer because of the immorality military leaders in America shows.

"If they had not used atomic/nuclear bombs someone else would've"

Whether someone would have or not is irrelevant.

Side: NO WAY!
2 points

It wasn't a stupid, thoughtless, decision. The bomb was only used because if it was not the war would have dragged on for much longer and Japan was prepared to keep fighting and even started a civilian army and were prepared to fight a guerilla war in the mainland of Japan and other islands. Yes the bomb killed many people, but having the war drag on for longer would have result in much more deaths on both sides including civilians who were ready to for the emperor.

Side: YEAH!