If it saves JUST ONE LIFE …..?
I thing it saved over a million lives.
In fact, it probably kept Japan from getting taken over by the Soviet Union.
Of course, back then the Soviet Union (i.e., Russia) was evil. And the USA was better in moral terms.
Hiroshima vs Detroit. That is a powerful comparison.
T’was Ever Thus!
Operation Starvation, ongoing since March ‘45, was just hitting stride. By this time there probably would have been no American invasion, bomb or not. Operation Starvation was moving on from from fire bombing burned out cities to total destruction of the Japanese interior transportation system. Food distribution was the main target now. It’s generally accepted that 20-30 million Japanese would have starved by year end ‘46. Yes, the Russians were working on the Japanese forces on Sakhalin Island to secure their assault base for the invasion and occupation of Hokkaido.