I wonder how many on this thread now think Hiroshima and Nagasaki were mistakes because they would make it more difficult to win the hearts and minds of the Japanese people and world opinion.
Rule Number One: When you send in the United States Armed Forces, send them in with a clear objective and no holds barred to win. Otherwise do not send them into harm's way.
I asked you on another thread to define winning. The objective is NOT a military victory, it is a political (Iraqi Democracy) victory. You need to allow that little fact into your considerations. There are no holds on our Military. The objective is to get rid of insurgents. It is NOT to level a city, kill civilians or look tough.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were shots across the Japanese bow, to break their will to fight, saving American lives in the process. We saved many more Japanese citizens through those actions than most realize. We would have had to kill half that nation in a full scale invasion, with tens of thousand dead Americans. Your perspective is really warped.