Thank God for the Atom Bomb

...

it was wrong to do so makes their opinion objective. This is because they are not emotionally biased towards either side and their assumptions are neutral. Secondly, it is unfair to overrule another person opinions just because he or she was an independent part to the situation. Their opinions are also valid regardless of whether they were in the war or not.

The atomic bombs had far reaching negative effects that can still be felt up to date. Children are born with deformities because of the effects that the bombs have even today. Atomic bombing is immoral and it counts as genocide since it is a form of mass murder. Stohl argues that the bombings can be considered to be militarily unnecessary and they can be termed as a form of state terrorism. Consequently, the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a form of racism against the Japanese people and, it dehumanized them.

In his argument, Fussell narrates the ordeals of those soldiers who are engaged in combat. He appeals to the reader’s emotions and tries to portray the atomic bomb as a blessing in disguise. So many Japanese soldiers were willing to give their life for the emperor’s sake and this means that the war would continue for as long as there were Japanese soldiers to continue fighting.

The Japanese used the unifying slogan, that “One hundred million will die for the Emperor and the Nation.” This slogan also went together with the phrase used by the Japanese to imply that the war would go on for ten thousand years if it had to. During combat, the Japanese used pilots known as a Kamikaze pilots to bomb rival soldiers. These soldiers were suicide bombers because they chose to die for the emperor by getting close to the rival armies and blowing themselves up. This goes to show the extent that the Japanese army were ready to go to ensure that they crushed their enemies. The situation was thus, desperate and it called for desperate measures.

The author also justifies the use of the atomic bomb by claiming that it saved the lives of so many soldiers in the battlefield. The other alternatives that were available instead of the bomb were likely to cause many more Japanese casualties.

In conclusion, the author’s thesis is valid to some extent. The only person who understand the impact or the extent of a situation is the person going through that particular situation. From his argument, those authors who judge Truman for making the decision regarding the atomic bomb have no idea what the battleground is like. By painting a picture of the ordeals that take place during battle, the reader gets a clear picture of why it was really necessary to bomb Japan. The author’s argument is justified considering that he has experienced battle first hand. He argues for utilitarianism which is the theory of greater good. The pleasure and advantages that came from acting; in this case bombing Japan, justified any damage that could have taken place as a result. The author’s arguments have opened my mind to a new way of thinking about the atomic bombings. The book gives an account from an ex-soldiers point of view and, the principle that people tend to easily talk about how wrong the atomic bomb was because they were so far from the scene of horror.