-— Our military had estimates of 500,000 to 1,000,000 American casualties that would we would have suffered from an invasion of the Japanese mainland. -—
That may be true, but that in itself would not justify the targeting of a purely civilian target (which Hiroshima and Nagasaki were NOT), because a good end does not justify evil means.
But there were significant military targets within those cities, which justified the action.
That may be true, but that in itself would not justify the targeting of a purely civilian target (which Hiroshima and Nagasaki were NOT), because a good end does not justify evil means.
Depends on what you mean by evil.
Some people who take their religions very seriously say it is evil to kill any number of people, even one (not necessarily Christianity, though there are sects that do).
Such people would also probably view the bombing of munitions factories to be heinous as well. The workers are not killing anyone themselves; they are merely assembling machinery. To bomb them would be the same as executing a pistol factory worker when a gun they make is used in a murder.
Besides, we had already been evil by your criteria. The Tokyo firebombings killed about as many civilians as the Hiroshima bomb.
Perhaps we should fall down and lament our evil, as the liberals are always eager to do.