Why did US drop A-bombs?
AS the anniversary of the A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki approaches, it will be once again debated as to why the United States dropped atom bombs on Japan in the dying days of World War II. The official US position is that the bombings shortened the war and saved American lives which might have been lost in any invasion of Japan. But any history book will tell us that Japan was a smouldering ruin by the beginning of 1945. It was completely isolated by the US naval blockade and American bombers were carrying out massive air raids. In the most massive 300-bomber raid on Tokyo, the US force destroyed Tokyos central business district and most other cities were bombed round the clock. It was only a matter of time before Japan would have surrendered and no Normandy-style invasion was needed. So why did the United States drop atom bombs on Japan? Dr Leo Szilard, a top scientist involved in the Manhattan Project, left us the answer in his account of the meeting with the Secretary of State
