Quote Originally Posted by nik0tine
Now, the Atomic Bomb was not solely dropped to save American lives. Dropping the bomb sent out a message to the entire world that A) we had the bomb and B) that we had more than one. Was it necessary to drop both bombs on Japan? Was it necessary to drop the bomb without warning? Couldn't we have told them that we had the bomb, and given them the chance to surrender first? We could have, but we didn't. The United States of America did not give two s about the lives of the innocent Japanese. All they cared about was getting an upperhand over the Russians, and making a statement that pretty much said "We can kick your ass."
For starters, back then we didn't have missiles that could hit a target within 20 metres. We couldn't launch surgical strikes on military targets in an effort to save civilian lives. Do you want to know how pilots knew when to drop a bomb during an air raid? They quite literally flew a very specific course for a certain amount of time in the hopes that would get them over the target when they release their bombs. The military had no interest in hitting a bunch of civilian homes if they could hit a factory producing fighter planes, but the fact is, it took a lot of planes, a lot of bombs, and a lot of luck to even come close. Conventional bombing tactics at the time could easily have killed as many civilians before the war would have ended. They just couldn't hit their targets with the accuracy they would have preferred.

As for the argument of could we have warned them? The U.S. built the bomb and didn't even fully comprehend the power it had until after they dropped them. The same was even true of the Hydrogen bomb when it was developed. Telling Japan would have done little except give them warning that we would drop a very large bomb. What's another bomb being dropped in a war? Would they even have believed it had the power it did if the U.S. simply told them? At the time, nobody could truly understand the destructive power of the Atomic Bomb. A weapon of mass destruction is only effective at detering an enemy if you use it, at least once. Then both sides realize what they need to be afraid of.