“Dropping the bomb was the right thing to do. These people would have not surrendered.”
I read a book some years ago where several Japanese historians concurred that it was the proper deciskon.
The end of WWII aside: had the bomb not been dropped on Japan, nuclear weapons would almost certainly have been used later in the context of the Cold War. WWII had normalized area bombing of cities. Nuclear weapons would have been viewed, at least up until first use, as a natural progression. It was the shock of seeing what actually happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki that changed the perception.
If not for the bombs, Japan would have been divided like Korea and Germany, with the likely result a Civil War between “Red” North Japan and US-backed South Japan.
I read somewhere the invasion plan included nuking the beaches and inland before the landing.
Then, as they worked their way up from the South nuking areas before advancing.
I wish I had kept that book. I can not recall the name.
With the Russians coming from the North and the carnage from us in the South, Japan would have taken far longer to recover than it did.
I also convinced the Japanese would have used biological / gas on invading troops.
I read a book some years ago where several Japanese historians concurred that it was the proper decision.
Whenever I am encounter an idiot spouting the , "We were wrong to drop the bomb" crap I simply ask them\, "If it was so wrong, why did we have to do it twice before they surrendered?"