RaiArashi wrote...
Ramsus wrote...
I don't really see the point of it. I don't think it accomplished anything a larger amount of less powerful bombs couldn't. I just think it's further proof that the people who are in charge of making decisions like these shouldn't be.
That is true, traditional bombing runs can and have caused more damage than the atomic bomb. For example, the fire-bombings of Tokyo destroyed a larger area and killed more people than the atomic bombings did. However, the atomic bomb has a much greater psychological impact; one bomb is capable of obliterating an entire city.
I believe the psychological impact was the point. You see, the "Powers that be" already had the bomb for awhile before the war ended, and were greatly contemplating whether to use it or not. Even the scientists of the Manhattan project pondered for several months on whether to tell officials the bomb had been completed due to their knowledge of its destructive nature. However, the decision of using the bomb was made because the entire world had been going through economical hardships, so the sooner the war ended the better. Thus factoring in the psychological pressure as "justification" for the bomb, as it basically ended the war.