Nuklear bomb

[Avimimus]

Originally Posted by Splitter

OK, I'll bite....why? Nukes in the 40's meant "game over". Drop one bomb from one aircraft and destroy a city....game over. It's the only reason the Japanese surrendered.

Maybe a final mission with dramatic visual effects? I guess I could see that but....again, why? Not much "game" there. Especially when the Japanese didn't even put much effort into defending against those lone bombers thinking they were recon missions.

Splitter

I think the bulk of the evidence would suggest that it allowed the Japanese to surrender (gave an excuse). It would have been possible to keep fighting (the Japanese war machine was in such bad straights by this period that the loss of a few more cities would only have made it somewhat worse).

I personally worry about the morality of leaving things like nuclear bombs out. The fact is that we did bomb civilian targets very deliberately (and firebombing had truly horrifying effects even if it required more planes to conduct).

Such bombing may have saved a lot of lives (eg. through disrupting industry), but we must also remember it as a tragedy and an evil (even if it is a lesser one). IMHO, It is something that happened and should be recorded.