[August 10, 2015] It’s been 70 years since the unprecedented decision was made by U.S. President Harry Truman to use the atomic bomb on Japan. The decision itself was no easy one for President Truman because of the huge costs in civilian lives that would occur. Yet leaders should closely study the decision; one day they may be called upon to also make a monumental decision.
As expected, this is a somber time in Japan as they pay their respects to those who died in the bombings. The number killed will never be known from the bombings on August 6 and 9, 1945 … but best estimates place the total over 200,000. So horrific was the destruction that just this week Pope Francis in rememberance of the event stated that use of the atomic bomb stands as a “permanent warning to humanity” to reject weapons of mass destruction.
In an August 11 letter to Mr. Cavert of the Federal Council of The Churches of Christ of America, New York, President Truman wrote, “Nobody is more disturbed over the use of Atomic bombs than I am but I was greatly disturbed over the unwarranted attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor and thier murder of our prisoners of war. The only language they seem to understand is the one we have been using to bombard them.” Written correspondence, mostly declassified Top Secret from the time, regarding the use of the atomic bomb, can be found and interested leaders should read them (see reference in notes).
It is estimated that during World War II between 50 and 80 million people were killed, mostly civilians. While it would unfair to make a comparison of the number killed in that war to those killed in the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it puts in perspective the level of tragedy of the times. Decisions made then should be viewed from the view of that time, realistically and ethically.
The primary reason for dropping the bombs on Japan by the U.S. was complex but primarily to save American lives by ending the war quickly. Secondary reasons, some have argued, include saving the lives of our allied troops and civilians of Japan. It also included a form of retribution for the war crimes committed by the Japanese; which were many and well documented in their horror. If the war against Japan were to continue, and all indications were that it would proceed at a destructive pace, the loss of life and injury would far exceed any from the bombs themselves.
Others, in modern times, a minority of voices have rejected these arguments and that always will be so and to be expected. The decision by Truman however was not arrived at lightly. There were extensive discussions, meetings, and analysis over many months about the need for the destructive power wrought in such a manner. The only person with the authority to make the decision was the U.S. president and Truman made his decision and the world history will forever debate it.
What will not be debated is that the war was ended quickly because the bombs were dropped. No one in their right mind makes light of the fact that so many lives were lost or so much culture destroyed but for the future of the peaceful world, there was no other moral choice. It needs to be remembered also that the Japanese military was still very strong, aggressive, tenacious, and brutal.
Leaders who are required to make life and death decisions of this magnitude are best when they have studied and practiced the art of decision making and the morality of the affects of those decisions. Our respect goes out to President Truman, to the allied war effort, and to all the innocents who lost their lives in the World War II.
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[Relevant Correspondence on the use of the atomic bomb from the Truman Libarary] http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/