Little Boy & Fat Man: Angry Avengers or the Only Suitable Solution?

 Image Courtesy www.moristowngreen.com

Yesterday, Japan marked the 69th anniversary of Little Boy's visit to the city of Hiroshima and would be marking the anniversary of Fat Man's visit to Nagasaki on Friday. The nasty "Little Boy" took the lives of about 140,000 people over the course of four months while "Fat Man" extirpated 70,000 three days later and many more in the days that followed. The final tally stands at 292,325.
Yes, you guessed correctly,Little Boy & Fat Man are the 9,700 pounds & 10,300 pounds atomic bombs dropped by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima & Nagasaki which resulted in the surrender by the Japanese Forces on September 2,1945, thereby ending the World War II.
But, apart from providing the Allies with a much needed victory, the bombardments also ushered the world into the Nuclear Warfare Era. An Era, in which a constant threat of being obliterated looms over the head of every nation.
Although, after the end of the Cold War in 1991, the threat of two superpowers annihilating each other has subsided, but the focus now is over precluding proliferation and nuclear terrorism. Well the responsibility to hinder the holocaust lies with the planet pioneers. Yours truly would like to stir a debate over what really was the intent behind the extermination.
Was it payback for Pearl Harbor(a surprise attack by the Japanese resulting in 4111 DEATHS & INJURIES & loss of HUNDREDS of air crafts and battleships which ultimately LED TO THE USA's ENTRY into the World War)? or
Was it an optimal solution to end the World War in the Pacific without going through with the planned invasion?
Was the USA a brilliant belligerent or a riled retaliator?
According to hiroshimatessa.weebly.com -
"In the History lessons in American institutions, it is inferred that the bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima was a consequence of the attack on the Pearl Harbor. In a speech, the then US President Harry S.Truman mentioned that Hiroshima & Nagasaki were industrial centers where weaponry was produced & targeting them was a strategic decision. But,the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey states, "all major factories in Hiroshima were on the periphery of the city – and escaped serious damage.”
The truth behind all this is anybody's guess.
But, there maybe another reason which is being put forth to justify the massacre. Even before the surrender of Nazi Germany on May 8, 1945, plans were underway for the largest operation of the Pacific War, Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.
A study conducted with the help of US Military Officers estimated the invading Allies would suffer between 1.7 and 4 million casualties in such a scenario, of whom between 400,000 and 800,000 would be dead, while Japanese casualties would have been around 5 to 10 million. Alot of questions arise after reading all these facts.
Wasn't there any other option to end the War without sacrificing this many number of lives?
Wasn't there any other option to avenge the unprovoked killing of thousands of US sailors which would not have required massacring civilians?
How different would have been the world if the nuclear weapons weren't used for the first & last time almost seven decades ago?
Let's all try to commemorate the victims of every conflict which took lives of innocents and pray that in future, a nation's ambition to conquer doesn't lead to the annihilation of its own people!!
©Copyright 2014 GarrulousGautam