Thats an excellent point. The problem there is that it exposes the whole look how many lives both American AND Japanese it saved! argument as a childish non-sequiter.
What would have happened if the Japanese hadnt surrendered after the second bomb was dropped? If the U.S. felt compelled to drop a second bomb because the Japanese didnt surrender after the first one, then on what basis would anyone presume today that the U.S. had any intention of invading Japan at all?
Look up “Operation Downfall,” “Operation Olympic,” and “Operation Coronet.” These were the invasion plans for Japan.
American casualty estimates were staggering.
Americans were becoming war-weary. The carnage on Okinawa was a foretaste of what our troops would suffer on the mainland.
Yes, all these things were known before Hiroshima / Nagasaki.