New Member Tournament: The Atomic Bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not justified.

REBUTTALR1) Loss of LifeThe fact of the matter is that if we didn't drop the bombs we were going to invade Japan. The fact of the matter is that Operation Downfall (invasion of Japan) would've cost 50,000 US lives in the first 30 days, not to mention the lives of the japanese [1]. I've already stated statistics on the overall casualties in the last round (which were conservatively still 7 times greater than the bombs). The atomic bombs got Japan to surrender under reasonable terms and thus saved us many more years of fighting and millions of lives. R2) Target ChoiceThe problem with attacking a Japanese military base is the fact that not all people in those bases would be Japanese soldiers. Those bases would include American POWs, of which there were over 35,000 taken by the Japanese[2]. President Truman was not willing to risk killing so many loyal American soldiers. Once again my opponent misunderstands the similarities between 9/11 and the atomic bombings. In 9/11, we have an inferior force bombing a superior force(militarily speaking), while in WW2 we have a superior military force (US) bombing an inferior force (Japan). If the shock one way (9/11) can cause a nation to go to war, then when reversed, it can definitely put an end to one. R3) MoralityJapan had 3 days to surrender. They didn't have to even write up a treaty, that was already written. All they had to do was call up the old White House and say "Hey, yea, we accept defeat. " It's not like we gave them 3 hours, we gave them 3 days. They had plenty of time to surrender. I mentioned speculation about a third bomb just as my opponent mentioned speculation about US motives of bombing Japan to impress Russia. The way I see it, both these arguments only hold weight in a speculative light. R4) PotsdamPotsdam is only unfair if both sides are bargaining with equal leverage. However, Japan, who had started the war, committed various war crimes (mostly against the Chinese with their use of biological weapons, but also with their treatment of POWs), and was losing the war horribly, had no leverage. Yet Japan had the audacity to ask for equal terms. The terms the Allies gave them were more than generous:-Japan was allowed to keep the land they had before expansion through war-Japan would regain control of their country as soon as the old, corrupt and expansionist government was replaced-Japan was left in control of its economyI am not arguing "sunk cost" but rather that we would have remained in the same situation as before WW2 if we had left the Japanese government alone. That is, an economically powerful and imperialistic nation would be left to once again threaten its neighbors and the United States. I agree that we can't change what happened, and that we should get maximum benefit now. The best way to do this, was through guaranteeing a quick Japanese surrender under terms that would prevent future conflict. Clearly, my opponent did not read the about us page about damnintersting. com. It is a website that simply reports interesting facts in a sometimes comedic light [3]. Just because they happened to post a humorous article does not discredit this other, totally unrelated one. This sight is not the same as theonion or cracked where it specializes in irony. R5) Opponent's ConclusionIf the point of the bombs was to kill civilians, there were 7 more populated cities than Hiroshima and 12 more than Nagasaki[4]. DEFENSE1) Saved Lives! Japan would only surrender under terms unbefitting the circumstances of the war they had caused. Because Japan was unwilling to accede to acceptable terms of surrender, it is clear that something drastic was needed to avoid a drawn out land invasion. That something was the atomic bombs.2) Civilians not InnocentJust because those citizens never grabbed a gun and shot a US citizen in the face, does not mean they were innocent. The majority of Japanese citizens were in support of the war (at least in the beginning) and did nothing significant to push for peace by changing imperialistic policies. They supported the war through the political and economic support that they lent to their country which in turn was used to further the war. ConclusionThe United States atomic bombings prevented a land invasion costly in time, money, and most importantly, lives. The bombs convinced Japan to surrender and sign a reasonable peace agreement that Japan was too proud to sign previously. The terms of the agreement and the result of the atomic bombings led to peace between the two nations that has lasted to this very day. This peace led to mutual economic prosperity and success for both countries. I couldn't have asked for a better opponent than F-16_Fighting_Falcon. Vote CON. [1] . http://en.wikipedia.org...;[2] . http://www.forties.net...;[3] . http://www.damninteresting.com...;[4] . http://en.wikipedia.org...