Atomic Bomb
By: Andrew • Essay • 544 Words • November 17, 2009 • 1,273 Views
Essay title: Atomic Bomb
During World War II, for the official purpose of forcing the Japanese to surrender unconditionally, the United States military dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. At least 120,000 people, about 95% of which were civilian, were killed outright, and around twice as many over time. “What happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not only that a scientific breakthrough but was a great part of the population of a city had been burned to death, but that the problem of the relation of the triumphs of modern science to the human purposes of man had been explicitly defined," Archibald McLeish stated. The entire globe was now to live with the fear of total destruction, the fear that drove the cold war, and the fear that has forever changed people mentally. The big question is, was it necessary? I personally do NOT think that the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary in defeating Japan in World War II; therefore I think it is immoral.
Radiation poisoning caused illness and death after the bombing in about 1% of those who survived the initial explosion. By the end of 1945, it is estimated that 60,000 more people died due to radiation poisoning, bringing the total killed in Hiroshima in 1945 to 140,000. Since then, several thousand more people have died of radiation-related causes. According to the city of Hiroshima, as of August 6, 2004, the cumulative death toll of atomic-bomb victims was 237,062, but it remains uncertain how many of them exactly died of the effects of the bombing. What was America’s purpose? The Manhattan Project had originally been conceived as a counter to Nazi Germany's atomic bomb program, and with the defeat of Germany. But instead, several hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed, and the target areas were known to be heavily populated by civilians.Those who