Atomic Bombs Were Not Necessary Essay Research — страница 2

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theirfeelings by holding protests and sending letters to government officials. As forgovernment officials, they made statements such as “by the summer of 1945 Japan hadalready lost the war” (Powers 2). The U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey released aSummary Report saying ” Japan would have surrendered even if the A-bombs hadn’t beendropped, even if Russia hadn’t entered the war, and even if no invasion had been plannedor contemplated” (Glines 2). For even Truman wasn’t sure of the decision he had made,saying “wielding a weapon of such vast power; knowing that Japan had already beenbrought to the brink of surrender” (Ahba 2). The mayor of Nagasaki knew, along with therest of the Japanese, that the Atomic Bomb was wrong. The mayor expressed his feelingswith a press

release saying ” How can the killing of 100,000 civilians in a day for politicalpurpose ever be considered anything but a crime” (Bernstien 4)? President Truman inmany reports expressed that he disliked the bomb. In a letter to Senator Richard Russelthe president said in response to the Senators request for more atomic bombing, “I knowthat japan is a terribly cruel and uncivilized nation in warfare but I can’t bring myself tobelieve that because they are beasts, we ourselves should act in the same manner” (Long3). Still many people believe that even the making of the atomic bomb was wrong.Los Alamos, New Mexico, people who live there are the keepers of an eerie legacy, froma single bomb built in Los Alamos, that changed the world. The first atomic bombexplosion was on

July 16, 1945 in a remote desert of New Mexico. It was given the nameTrinity. One observer said it had “the radiance of a thousand suns” (Masko 1). A man by the name of Robert Oppenheimer was the director of the Los Alamos project.Oppenheimer knew the terrible weapon he had constructed, saying “Now I am becomedeath, the destroyer of worlds” (Masko 1). The Los Alamos project was also know as theManhattan Project. “The Manhattan Project, costing nearly two billion dollars, had beenkept secret from most cabinet members and nearly all of congress” (Masko 1). The LosAlamos Project tested a bomb to destroy the Japanese, but during testing the radiationkilled several people making the bomb. If they weren’t advanced enough to build it, howcan they defend themselves against

it? Being shown by the large number of deaths, thatbeing well over 200,000 people. Some people try and say that the bombs took the warrior spirit from Japan. Whilein reality, the U.S. government knew that Tokyo was eagerly pressing the Russians forhelp in obtaining negotiated peace. People often wonder why Truman was never informedof this peace Tokyo was looking for. It turns out that the Japanese cabinet wanted thepeace negotiation, fearing total destruction of the Japanese homeland, Truman also wentuntold of this Japanese fear. There are still many historians who say the emperor wouldhave submitted even if the atomic bomb would have merely been demonstrated in TokyoBay, or even never used. Since the first Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, there have been many interviews byreporters

for magazines, of the witnesses, scientists, and government officials. Those ofthe scientists often show the beliefs of why it was wrong. They express their regrets forproducing such an evil weapon. These interviews also stress what was wrong with thebombings, from the killing of the civilians to the Government decisions. One interviewwas with Leo Szilard, a scientist, who at the time was the head scientist for the ManhattanProject. In this interview, Szilard stressed his opinions on the bombs. He was askedabout his attitude toward the bomb droppings in 1945, Szilard responded with , “Iopposed it with all my power, but I’m afraid not as effectively as I should have wished.”(Szilard 1). He was then approached with the question of if the other scientists felt thesame as

himself. Szilard stressed their feelings, answering with, “Very many otherscientists felt this way” (Szilard 1). One of the last questions to Szilard was if Truman andthose directly below him gave a full conscientious study to the alternatives, Szilardanswered with a prominent, “I don’t think they did. They thought only in terms of ourhaving to win the war by military means” (Szilard 3). This interview stressed Szilard’sfeelings of the bombs being wrong as well as other scientists. Scientists, as well as citizens, often wonder why the Government didn’t look at thealternatives. Why did they still decide to use the Atomic Bomb? They knew what wouldhappen, shown in the testing area of New Mexico. The Government knew how deadlythis “secret weapon” was, with the