Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Puns

I heard that Robert Scheer back in 2010 said that the US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima was most atrocious terrorist attack ever conducted my question is do you think this counts as apologia for Imperial Japan as it makes them the real victims in WW2?

Scheer said regarding Truman's decision to use atomic bombs as: "the most atrocious act of terrorism in world history when he annihilated the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

Earning His Nobel Prize | The Nation

Honestly I feel that this is pretty dangerous because it would allow far-right apologists of both Neo-Nazis and Japanese neo-fascists can use this to downplay the barbarity of their favored regimes.

I'm about halfway through Ian Kershaw's book The End which is basically an examination of Nazi Germany in 1944 and 1945. The question at the core of the book is why did so many hold out and follow Hitler into the abyss well past the point where it was obvious that Germany had lost the war. I'm enjoying the book so far so if you're interested in learning more about that subject I'd encourage you to read it.

One thing that keeps coming up in the book are "wonder weapons". Nazi propaganda near the end started touting that they were producing new weaponry that would deal a decisive blow against the Allies and win the war for Germany.

In the book that seems hopelessly optimistic of course. But also one cannot help but think about the atomic bombs. Those certainly could have been war-changing if the Nazis were even close to producing something like that (they weren't). But I'm kinda interested in what the German people must've thought when wonder weapons actually did turn out to exist... but in the hands of the Allies? And that if they had held out even longer, that these weapons might have been used on them?

After the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, how did they remove or clean the atomic radiation enough to rebuild? How long did it take?

With the force of those bombs, it was gonna take out more than any garrisons in the cities but not only were civilians caught once but twice in the major bombings of these places. Why has no one been held accountable for war crimes for these actions?

I’m sorry if this is repetitive

I keep seeing people getting mad at the US for doing this, and letting Japan play the victim card. People don’t seem to realise the heinous crimes against humanity that the Japanese empire did to neighbouring Asian countries. This, along with the fact that Japan weren’t looking to surrender even after the first blast - still hoping to win a ground war that would have resulted in the deaths of maybe a million allied soldiers - completely justifies the attacks in my opinion.

The USA only get away with it because they’re the world’s bully.

They were lightheartedly testing the first weapon of mass destruction on cities full of ordinary citizens, woman and kids.

There never was any form of remorse shown.

Germany was denazified but go murricah! Land of the free!

Truman had the option of bombing a military base or even just showing off the power of the bomb. He chose neither. He decided to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with the consent of the United Kingdom, and kill 100 to 200 thousand citizens.

The UN defines a war crime as "Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities" (note the UN did not exist yet and this definition comes from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the US signed and then subsequently withdrew its signature

Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention defines war crimes as "wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including ... wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person ... taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly".

Between 129,000 and 226,000 people died in these bombings and I would like to know if Americans view these events as heroic actions that were inevitable or something that has left a dark stain on your history? Not blaiming anyone or anything, just curious because the bombing of Hiroshima happened 75 years ago today.

Dropping the Bomb: Hiroshima & Nagasaki

I have seen a lot of debate over the validity of claims made in this video, in particular:

• That the atomic bombings had little impact on the internal debates within the Japanese leadership over surrender.

• That the atomic bombings were not done to avoid an invasion, and an invasion was never seriously considered.

• That the American leadership were aware of the dire situation in Japan, and the inevitability of its surrender.

• And that ultimately the bombings had little impact on accelerating an end to the war, and that they were largely used for political purposes more than for military necessity.

To me, a regular person, it seems well sourced and appears to represent these sources faithfully. It has influenced my opinions on the necessity and impact of the bombings, and appears to largely agree with the FAQ posts here on r/askhistorians. However, I'm wondering what the people on this subreddit think about it, and if they can provide any criticisms or extra perspectives to consider.

If desired I can attempt to provide timstamps for the points I outlined above, as it is quite a lengthy video.