Should the nuclear bombing of japan in WW2 be considered a war crime?

I know that america likes to style herself as the "good guy" but how is the death of tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands including radiation poisoning anything but a war crime?

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AkariYokota · F

I have been to the Hiroshima memorial museum and it’s horrible to see all the burned and torn dresses of young girls and school uniforms of young boys who got burned alive. 140,000 people died in Hiroshima.

Here is a quote from a senior US official on why they bombed us, even [b]after japan was already talking about surrendering:[/b]

"The bomb simply had to be used -- so much money had been expended on it. Had it failed, how would we have explained the huge expenditure? Think of the public outcry there would have been . . . The relief to everyone concerned when the bomb was finished and dropped was enormous."

VeronicaJane

@AkariYokota I wonder about that quote. Since it is a Japanese museum, with the the Japanese point of view.

Does the museum talk about the atrocities committed by the Japanese, or about the many 'comfort girls' used by the Japanese military?

It was horrific. A land invasion would have been horrific. Which was the lesser of two evils?

No matter your perspective, the old saying is true. War is hell.

Pikachu

@AkariYokota

It's horrifying to think about

AkariYokota · F

@VeronicaJane That quote isn’t from the museum, it’s from an American article debating if Hiroshima was a war crime :)

VeronicaJane

@AkariYokota not knowing the source, I would wonder about the bias of the author.

There is no doubt the bombings were horrible and heartbreaking.

The only question is how horrible would a land assault of the Japanese home islands have been as an alternative?

The teachings I received is that there was no serious discussion of surrender until after the second bombing.

Before that, it was defense of the home islands; street by street, house by house. Much in the same way Iwo Jima was defended.