[StoneRainbow68]

Any modern person thinking we should have done something else in that situation simply reveals themselves to be horribly ignorant of history. I don’t take such a person seriously.

Even AFTER two bombs, there STILL was an attempted coup by junior officers of the Japanese military to intercept the Emperor’s surrender message to prevent its broadcast. That’s how insane and suicidal some elements of the Japanese power structure was.

The A-bombs were an act of mercy to end the death spiral that was the Pacific War. It was merciful to both American soldiers AND Japanese civilians.

[DuncanWaring]

Here’s a story about how the coup failed:

“The Last Mission”.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XU8EAU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

[Jim Noble]

Here’s a better question: Which was worse, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima or the firebombing of Tokyo, and why?

[Oatka]

Even AFTER two bombs, there STILL was an attempted coup by junior officers of the Japanese military to intercept the Emperor’s surrender message to prevent its broadcast. That’s how insane and suicidal some elements of the Japanese power structure was.

I read where a Japanese General gave this message to his troops (roughly): "Yes, things look pretty bad now, if we try hard enough, we can still win this war."

This was after the second Bomb dropping was known.

Another reason to drop the bomds was that General Hideki Tojo was responsible for the policy to "Kill All the Prisoners" upon invasion of the homelands or imminent danger.