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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SAandME · 56-60, M

So many war crimes were committed in WW2 why only pick on the one which actually ended the war and saved many allied lives in the process. It is such a "what if" question it becomes impossible to answer it, i do not agree with nuclear weapons but then i do not agree with war either. One thing i do believe however is if the Japanese mentality had not been death before surrender then a conventional D-day style attack on Japan would have been a likely option rather than using the atomic bombs.

Byron8by7 · M

@SAandME An invasion of Japan, Operation Downfall, was planned, and would have resulted in massive casualties.

See my previous post in this thread.

I would (again) refer readers here to the following book:

Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945 - 47
by D. M. Giangreco (Revised Edition, 2017)

https://www.usni.org/store/books/holiday-catalog-2017/hell-pay

SAandME · 56-60, M

@Byron8by7 That is what i was saying only i could not remember it's operation name so i said d-day style as easier on my tired brain 😁

Byron8by7 · M

@SAandME Operation Downfall would have had [i]six[/i] landings, each landing the size of the D-Day landing at Normandy.