To Bomb or Not to Bomb?

The use of nuclear weapons in Japan have been heavily debated throughout our history. Two sides exist, both believing that their view is correct. Many people believe the dropping of atomic bombs was justifiable, stating that without the bombs the war would not have ended and that the bombs saved millions of lives. On the other hand, many people believe the dropping of Atomic bombs should be considered war crimes and that the United States just wanted to see the effects of Atomic bombs and scare the Soviet Union, having no need to drop bombs and kill hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians.
The Japanese had a mentality of no surrender. Japanese soldiers were told to fight to the death or commit suicide rather than be captured by US forces. The Japanese leadership claimed being captured was the greatest disgrace to the family and one should never give up. Suicide planes and bombs became a large part of Japanese military strategy late in the war. This surge of policy of no surrender led the United States to believe that nothing beside an invasion of mainland Japan would end the war. These facts led the leadership of the United States to consider using the atomic bomb to end the conflict. By bombing the Japanese mainland with atomic weapopns the US would be able to avoid huge casualties of an amphibeous invasion of the Japanese mainland.
Although this explanation is sound in principle, in reality the use of nuclear weapons was inexcusable. The Japanese were just about ready to surrender, and the use of the second atomic weapon should be a war crime. After dropping the first bomb on Hiroshima, the United States prepared to drop a second one on Nagasaki only three days later. The United States did not wait for a response from the confused Japanese government, instead simply going for an immediate secondary nuclear strike. The day the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a Japanese leadership counsel decided to submit a formal surrender. This action occured before the second bomb hit, showing that the Japanese were ready to surrender and that more civilian deaths were not necessary. The horrors of nuclear war should never become a reality again, and the use of nuclear weapons should never be justified.

Sources: http://nationalinterest.org/feature/no-other-choice-why-truman-dropped-the-atomic-bomb-japan-13504

http://qz.com/472146/its-clear-the-us-should-not-have-bombed-hiroshima-and-nagasaki/