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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dragonblade" data-source="post: 1754092" data-attributes="member: 2804">I took a Japanese history class while I was an exchange student living in Japan. And I went to Hiroshima while I was there.The museum is a really interesting and sombering experience. War is hell. Many people died. That sure was hammered home. But was it a mistake to drop the bomb? Japanese military records show that they were preparing to to fight a suicide war sort of like in the Middle East now. They were even training children to walk up to GIs and blow themselves up. The hope was that a horrific and bloody war of attrition would force the allies to give up and if not, then Japan would take as many Americans with them as they could.Hirohito had grown disillusioned with the whole war, but he didn't have the power to force the military to surrender to the Allies. It was the atomic bomb which made him fear for the very existence of the Japanese people. And it was the atomic bomb which gave him the power to demand the military surrender unconditionally to the allies. Their suicide attacks would be pointless if the U.S. can nuke Japan from the sky without a single GI ever setting foot on the main island of Honshu.Finally faced with utter annihilation and no ability to even fight back, the Japanese military accepted MacArthur's terms and surrendered.History also shows us that the Soviets were preparing to invade Japan. A situation which would have had grave consequences had they succeeded. The Soviets were already solidifying the hold they had gained over eastern Europe and the Allies were concerned that a wider war would start if they couldn't forestall the Soviet advance.The Allies had no time. Japan had to surrender now and the invasion of Okinawa had already shown the massive loss of life and the suicide attacks they were sure to endure on the main island. They dropped the bomb and hoped the awesome shock of it would not only cause Japan to surrender without further loss of life but would stop the Soviets dead in their tracks.</blockquote>

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