The use of Atomic bombs on Japan was justified.

"Japan was, in fact, in a position of imminent surrender. Japan had neither the resources nor the means to continue fighting or launch overseas attacks. There were numerous unexplored alternatives to the use of nuclear force. " I will be refuting the following during our debate: Japan was in a position to surrender but the Japanese government had little to no intention of surrendering. Japanese resources was becoming more and more scarce but the government had no intention of surrendering. To an extent I do agree they were losing their ability to wage conflicts overseas but if they wanted they could have. There were numerous other alternatives to ending the war but the Atomic bomb was the best option to end the war as quickly as possible while causing minimum causalities. "1: My opponent makes the case that Japan was not prepared or willing to surrender in mid-1945, based on public displays of resilience and statements affirming this by civil servants of the Emperor. This simply cannot serve as an accurate representation of Japan"s actual position during the period. Japanese political leaders and high-ranking government official were essentially duty-bound to never admit any sort of defeat; it was a cultural and legal matter. After every military defeat, Japanese potentates would claim that the loss was intentional, and part of a bigger plan to defeat the United States. (1)Furthermore, the Japanese people believed up until the unconditional surrender that Japan was winning the war, and would never consider giving up. The propaganda from Japanese media and leaders kept them utterly convinced until the end. The leadership in Japan was going to say these things no matter the circumstances, and thus their statements and actions are insufficient evidence to conclude Japan would not have surrendered without the use of nuclear weapons. " Japanese government had no intention of surrendering regardless of the bloodshed that would've ensured with a prolonged World War II. The Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima August 6, 1945 , even after the devastation as a result of the bomb the Japanese government refused to surrender. "After the Hiroshima attack, a faction of Japan"s supreme war council favored acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration, but the majority resisted unconditional surrender. " This proves even when faced with the devastation of a single bomb that decimated an entire city the Japanese government was not wiling to surrender. ""Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey"s opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945 and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated. " In conclusion, the evidence clearly demonstrates that despite their public impression, Japan was in every sense prepared to surrender, and the use of the most destructive weapons in human history, or the conducting of a massive, costly invasion, would simply not be necessary. " I do agree Japan would have surrendered but the issue is they had no intention of surrendering anytime soon and was wiling to prolong the war. As shown above even after Hiroshima, Japan was not willing to surrender. This shows how far their government was wiling to pursue the war. Time is precious, as you said resources were getting scarce by the day but even then Japan was not wiling to surrender. The longer the war is delayed the more causalities Japanese civilians, military personnel, POWs etc would have faced as resources gets more scarce. Japanese government would have been willing to sacrifice those people to prolong the war as they strongly opposed the Potsdam Declaration. We could've easily prolonged the war with a Naval blockade but that would've resulted in even more causalities, especially on the Japanese side (I refer back to my proof above of the Japanese government not willing to surrender. ) "2: Even if the high-ups in Japan had wanted to continue the fight indefinitely, the country lacked the funding or the ability to defend itself, let alone launch an attack. My opponent claims Japan was going to launch a massive biological attack on America"s West Coast, but surrendered before the plan could be put into action. Throughout the course of the war, the Japanese devised dozens of schemes to cause destruction and casualties in the United States, most of which were never attempted, and those that were carried out failed. (6) This one seems especially ridiculous, and operated on the assumption that Japan could spare a squadron of bombers and fighters, which could make it past US naval and air defenses, would survive all the way to San Francisco, before dropping a payload of diseased animals, which would successfully spread the plague and cause untold deaths. My opponent must realize this is incredibly weak. " Japan at that time was known for their radical ideals, it's very hard to predict their intentions. They continued with their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor knowing that this attack will lead to the US intervening in WW2. They knew the capabilities of the US military yet they still chose to get the US involved. In military conflicts they would conduct the "Banzai Charge" or "Banzai Counterattack" when on the verge of defeat. If they ran out of ammunition or failed to overrun the enemy they committed suicide. Unit 731 (known for their infamous human experimentation to further biological and chemical warfare) is another example of Japan's radical ideals. I won't get too much into the Unit as it's despicable but this unit was responsible for Japanese plans to spread plagues/numerous other diseases onto the US. Anyway only given these three facts of the Japan during that time you can tell were wiling to fight to the last man, woman and child. "During the last months of the war, Ishii was preparing for a long-distance attack on the United States. This operation, codenamed "Cherry Blossoms at Night", called for the use of airplanes to spread plague over Southern California at night. The plan was finalized on March 26, 1945. Five of the new I-400-class long-range submarines were to be sent across the Pacific Ocean, each carrying three Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft loaded with plague-infected fleas. The submarines were to surface near San Diego and launch the aircraft towards the target, either to drop the plague via balloon bombs, or to crash in enemy territory. Either way, the plague would then infect people in the area and kill perhaps tens of thousands. The mission was extremely risky for the pilots and submariners, likely a one-way kamikaze mission. A pilot under the command of Ishii, Ishio Kobata, recalled the plan in 1998:" Given Japan's radical methods of war, I would not gamble and allow them to commit even more atrocities with plans such as Operation Cherry Blossoms at Night. I'm afraid I've ran out of characters so I'll be brief for the rest. Japan was on the verge of defeat yes but they were not willing to surrender. Even with a lack of supplies they could've easily waged guerrilla warfare or any other methods of unconventional warfare. Source: . http://www.history.com... . http://www.pcf.city.hiroshima.jp... . http://www.unit731.org... . http://www.u-s-history.com... . https://www.awesomestories.com... . https://weaponsandwarfare.com... . http://fas.org...