The use of atomic weaponry against Japan in World War II was unjustified.

Counter Rebuttals:“The Empire of Japan was already teetering as a result of heavy aerial bombardment and the suffocating blockade that prevented supplies from entering the resource poor nation.” While the Japanese were “teetering” from intense bombing and blockades, this in no way shows that they were going to surrender to the allies. In fact, prior to Hiroshima the leadership of Japan had never proposed any terms or circumstances where they would surrender. Following that, even after the war none of the top 8 leaders of Japan* claimed that there was any set of terms of circumstances that would have prompted Japan to surrender prior to Hiroshima (1). The “heavy aerial bombardment and suffocating blockade” were not going to force the Japanese to surrender. Tsuyoshi Hasegawa –a highly respected historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara- had drawn the conclusion that Japan was not poised to surrender before Hiroshima, nor was it ready to surrender immediately after the atomic bomb (2). My opponent quotes several high ranking officials in the U.S. Military all of whom think that Japan was going to surrender without the dropping of the Atomic bomb. I have provided two pieces of evidence that directly contradicts that notion. Japan didn’t surrender because the soviets had joined the fight. They surrendered to the allies because they feared the soviet style occupation that would have happened had the war dragged on. The Atomic bomb gave Japan the best means out of the war. Also, the use of the bomb was a show of American force towards the Soviets who most people predicted would be trouble when they didn’t remove their troops from Eastern Europe at the end of the European Theatre. So, the Soviet invasion didn’t render the mob unnecessary, but rather encouraged its use to curb Soviet aggression. “My opponent believes that the compensation of numbers for tenacity justifies state terrorism.” This is a straw man. I simply say that in a war either side is obligated to use the best available weapons to them, as is the nature of war. My opponent’s second rebuttal tries to justify Japan using all of their weapons to obtain a conditional surrender. I fail to see how Japan seeking any kind of conditional surrender (which FDR would not allow) in any way refutes the using of the Atomic Bomb. If anything it deepened the need to use the bomb as the Japanese will was not about to break. I am not going to refute the Pearl Harbor point because it would not help to further my point. I would like to say though that the fact that the US freezes war time assets to a warmongering nation does not constitute an attack on our country as we have the right to restrict our trade. “I doubt that my opponent understands what unconditional surrender meant to the Imperial Japanese military.” I am fully aware of what unconditional surrender meant to Japan. I would, however, like to state the ego of Japan doesn’t change the fact that they were still warned of mass destruction. The fate of the Japanese was still in their hands. They had every opportunity to avoid the atomic bomb. There was nothing more the US could have done to warn them. I will now refute my opponents main points "The Atomic bombings were state sanctioned acts of terrorism" I would like to break down your definition of terrorism:"violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror) in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons, are perpetrated for a religious, political or ideological goal, deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).""violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror) in the general public"- the purpose of the bombs was not to strike fear in the Japanese population, but rather to display the hoplesness of contuning the war effort. Furthermore, the US has seen through kamikazee pilots and Banzai attacks that Japan was using, and the citizens who were willing to use shaprened bamboo to repel invaders had shown the US that the Japanese had no fear. "a group of persons or particular persons, are perpetrated for a religious, political or ideological goal" - You could say that the goal of ending the war is a political goal, but in the defense of your country I would highly discount that as terror."deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians)."- Hiroshima was targeted not because of its civilians, but for its military significance. "At the time of its bombing, Hiroshima was a city of both industrial and military significance. A number of military camps were located nearby, including the headquarters of Field Marshal Shunroku Hata's 2nd General Army which commanded the defense of all southern Japan"(4)."Militarily unnecessary"I already refuted this earlier"The Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both War Crimes and Immoral"First, I would like to note that my opponent uses a series of hypotheticals in which the bombings would have been deemed war crimes.It is ironic that my opponent claims the bombings as war crimes immoral because the combined death toll of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were less than the standard B-29 bombing of Tokyo. "Estimates of the number killed range between 80,000 and 200,000, a higher death toll than that produced by the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima or Nagasaki six months later" (5). The conventional bombing alone had already clamied more lives than both of the Atomic Bombs combined as they had only claimed around 150,000 casualties (6).Before I pass it over to my opponent I would like to note that he did not provide a rebuttal for the justification coming from the "common defense" of the preamble, and that he merely calls it "unusual" He also fails to adress how the atomic bombs would have saved more lives than the most likely option of invading Japan.*The top officials being Emperor Tojo and his highest advisers. (1) http://www.fpri.org... (para 15) (2) http://www.boston.com... (3) http://dictionary.reference.com...(4) http://en.wikipedia.org...(5) http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com...; (6) http://www.atomicarchive.com...