{"id":1981579,"date":"2023-07-24T17:32:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T21:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oppenheimer-was-dropping-atomic-bombs-on-japan-necessary\/"},"modified":"2023-07-24T17:34:57","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T21:34:57","slug":"oppenheimer-was-dropping-atomic-bombs-on-japan-necessary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oppenheimer-was-dropping-atomic-bombs-on-japan-necessary\/","title":{"rendered":"Was it necessary to drop atomic bombs on Japan, according to Oppenheimer?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foppenheimer-was-dropping-atomic-bombs-on-japan-necessary%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1981579&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Oppenheimer:\u2062 Was Dropping Atomic Bombs on Japan Necessary?<\/h2>\n<p>On Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/david-harsanyi-bidens-putin-appeasement-has-been-years-in-the-making\/\" title=\"David Harsanyi: Biden\u2019s Putin Appeasement Has Been Years in the Making\">forces dropped<\/a> an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/archaeologists-uncover-ancient-street-food-shop-in-pompeii\/\" title=\"Archaeologists uncover ancient street food shop in Pompeii\">atomic bomb<\/a> on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later,\u200b on Aug. 9, Japan \u2064suffered another devastating attack\u2062 when a\u200c second atomic bomb \u2063detonated over Nagasaki.<\/p>\n<p>The annual approach of the \u200bHiroshima and Nagasaki \u2062anniversaries brings renewed debate over President Harry \u2063Truman\u2019s decision to use the\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pakistani-mp-we-dont-need-missiles-atomic-bombs-or-a-huge-army-if-they-cant-be-used-to-liberate-palestine\/\" title=\"Pakistani MP: \u2018We don\u2019t need missiles, atomic bombs or a huge army if they can\u2019t be used to liberate Palestine\u2019\">atomic bombs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This year,\u200b the July 21\u200b release of\u200d writer-director Christopher Nolan\u2019s\u200d summer blockbuster \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/oppenheimer-moviegoers-will-forced-watch-anti-nuke-psa-film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oppenheimer<\/a>\u201d has given that debate a fresh context.<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-embed\">\n<\/div>\n<p>Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2005 biography, \u2063\u201cAmerican Prometheus:\u2063 The Triumph \u2064and Tragedy of J. Robert\u2064 Oppenheimer,\u201d Nolan\u2019s film tells the story \u2063of the\u200c famed American \u2064physicist who helped develop the world\u2019s first \u2064atomic bomb\u2064 and then, in the \u200cyears \u200cfollowing WWII, opposed \u2063the \u200bproliferation of nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/barbie-oppenheimer-barbenheimer-box-office-3ff25c0a3acf7b568866c2ff307d0108\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Associated \u2063Press<\/a>, the film\u2019s $80.5 \u200dmillion opening weekend\u2062 \u201csoared past expectations\u201d and represents \u201cone of the best-ever starts for an R-rated biographical drama.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The early success\u200b of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/director-speaks-robert-downey-jr-matt-damon-walk-oppenheimer-premiere\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oppenheimer<\/a>\u201d suggests that moviegoers remain interested in a political and ethical question that has occupied the world since 1945.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was\u200b the \u200datomic \u200dbombing of Japan necessary?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Any attempt to answer\u2064 this question requires \u2064the utmost humility, for \u2063the degree\u200b of necessity depends on alternatives and probable outcomes at which posterity can \u2064only guess.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore,\u2063 one must acknowledge differences in stake. The question of necessity, for instance, must have seemed far\u200b more urgent to a United States\u2063 marine\u200d on \u200cOkinawa in 1945 than it does to a theatergoer in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>With these different perspectives in mind,\u2064 a\u200d number of writers\u2062 have attempted to address the \u2064question of necessity.<\/p>\n<h3>Arguments for Necessity<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In 2016, for instance, Bruce Klingner \u200cof the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/tucker-carlson-clashes-conservative-think-tank-heritage-foundation-big-tech\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Heritage\u2064 Foundation\u2019s<\/a> Asian Studies Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/defense\/commentary\/the-atomic-bomb-averted-even-larger-tragedies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">argued<\/a> that Truman\u2019s decision \u2064to\u2062 drop the atomic bombs \u200bprevented a U.S. \u200binvasion of Japan that would have cost\u200d millions of American and Japanese lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Arguments Against Necessity<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In a 2018 commentary, Jason Lee \u200bSteorts, managing editor at National Review,\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/hiroshima-nagasaki-nuclear-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">described<\/a> \u2063 the use of atomic bombs as \u201cgravely wrong indeed.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Meanwhile, Dr. Daniel McIntosh, \u2062Associate Professor Emeritus at Slippery Rock \u200bUniversity in Pennsylvania, has expressed\u2062 similar doubts based on evidence that conveys\u200c the Japanese perspective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airuniversity.af.edu\/AUPress\/Book-Reviews\/Display\/Article\/2462838\/atomic-salvation-how-the-a-bomb-saved-the-lives-of-32-million-people\/#:~:text=Lewis%20estimates%20that%20the%20bombing,of%20roughly%2030%20million%20people.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">review<\/a> of Tom Lewis\u2019 book, \u201cAtomic Salvation: How the A-Bomb \u200cSaved the \u200dLives of 32 Million People\u201d (2020),\u200b McIntosh questioned Lewis\u2019 titular \u200cassertion and argued that it is \u201cmore likely that the use of nuclear weapons was important but not sufficient\u201d in compelling Japan\u2019s surrender.<\/p>\n<p>Modern readers might \u200dexpress astonishment at \u2063the fact that\u200c Japan\u2019s leaders took little immediate notice \u200dof this world-changing development.<\/p>\n<p>A\u200d full \u2064explanation of this relative indifference requires an understanding\u2064 of events that occurred \u2064earlier in 1945.<\/p>\n<p>In truth, the attacks\u2064 on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not even constitute the \u2064year\u2019s most destructive aerial bombings of Japan.<\/p>\n<p>On the night of March 9-10,\u2064 U.S. \u200cB-29 Superfortress bombers\u200d carried out a catastrophic air raid against Tokyo that \u2063killed more\u200c people than either of the two atomic bombs did.<\/p>\n<p>By August, U.S. forces controlled nearby Okinawa. Meanwhile, the war in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/sweden-stuns-europe-major-push-back-globalist-agenda-warns-western-nations-follow-suit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Europe<\/a> \u200d had ended.<\/p>\n<p>U.S.\u200b military commanders in the Pacific, therefore, had thousands of bombers\u2062 at their disposal.<\/p>\n<p>Without the two atomic bombs, U.S. \u2062officials might have \u2064opted for relentless napalm attacks on\u2063 Japanese cities.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, Truman\u2019s\u200b decision \u2063to\u200d drop the atomic bombs might have\u2062 prevented a \u2063catastrophic invasion and an even more destructive series of\u2063 air raids.<\/p>\n<p>Or, it might have amounted\u2063 to a grave and unnecessary \u2063error.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks in part \u2064to \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d the \u200ddebate continues.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/oppenheimer-dropping-atomic-bombs-japan-necessary\/\">Oppenheimer: Was Dropping Atomic Bombs on Japan \u2063Necessary?<\/a> \u2064 appeared first on <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\">The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Aug. 6, 1945, the US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki faced another devastating attack. The anniversaries of these events spark debates on President Truman&#8217;s decision to use atomic bombs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2056,"featured_media":1981580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1981579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1981579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1981580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1981579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1981579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1981579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}