YC



Prosecution: Harry S. Truman -bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

WRONG -Japanese feared the Russian interference in the war and were going to surrender anyways -Japanese leaders were seeking surrender through a diplomatic way -Truman dropped the bombs to test them out (without sufficient military necessity) -Truman wanted to show Stalin (Russia) what USA was capable of -Truman killed civilians (women, children, elderly), not military targets -it was not necessary to take the lives of 130-140 thousand innocent people -Japan was already broken -Truman had other options (offered by Stimson, Grew, Churchill, etc) but chose to drop the atomic bombs anyways -the US did not necessarily need to invade Japan to win / end the war -violated Nuremberg Charter Article 6 paragraph B outlawing "the wanton destruction of cities, towns, villages, and devastation not justified by military necessity -ordering the annihilation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki via an experimental terror weapon resulting in the massacre and maiming of 200,000 Japanese civilians (women, children, elderly)   WAR CRIMES: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoner of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity. -Truman considered the Asian race to be 'subhuman' ...? -understand that the atomic bomb isn't a military weapon; it is used to wipe out innocent women and children, and corrupt human morality -tried to demonstrate that the US had the capacity and will to commit genocide from the air -neither Hiroshima nor Nagasaki were producing weapons in 8. 1945 --> shows the flaw of the justification that those cities were a part of the Japanese war machine (if these two cities were major industrial cities, they would have been attacked long before) -

DEFENSE -brutality of the Japanese had to be stopped -there are no civilians in war -the Japanese waited to surrender until the 2nd bomb was bombed -Japanese attacked first at Pearl Harbor 1941 -Hiroshima & Nagasaki would have been bombed anyways -the Japanese war party leaders were not willing to surrender despite Okinawa>the bomb helped stop infliction upon civilians -saved many lives (American and Japanese) by not invading Japan -Japanese had bought nuclear making from Hitler and were planning to do the same to the USA -Truman ended the war, not start it -the bomb helped get rid of the Japanese soldiers in occupied areas in Asia (which was wanted) -had the Axis powers had the bomb, they would have used it -Japan failed to initiate peace talk (left US with no options) "most terrible thing ever created" would "shorten the agony of war" -as president, and representing / serving the American people, the decisions are based on what is best for America, not its enemies -Truman prevented Russia from having a larger role in Japan afterwards (Russians would have argued to control a larger part of Japan than just the islands they seized) - (a) just deserts for Japanese war criminals; (b) ending the war quickly; (c) saving hundreds of thousands of American boys from a bloody invasion; (d) lack of viable alternatives; and (e) following God's will.

-willing to kill as many Japanese for peace

  