Why is the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan during WWII considered controversial?
Civilain deaths in wartime are a horrible occurrence, on that we can all agree. You are right, however, in noting that WW2 was a total war, and that all participants made war on civilians, not just the United States. Germany bombed civilians in London, the Japanese bombed civilians in the Chinese cities, and both of those countries murdered millions of innocents as part of their military activities, which were based on racist and fascist philosophies. We have justifiably come to be especially horrified at the thought of the use of nuclear weapons. But we should remember that before they were used, and before we were really cognizant of the great threat they presented to civilization as a whole, they were considered as just another weapon. The destruction wreaked on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was no greater than that wreaked on Tokyo or Dresden with conventional weapons, and more civilians died in Tokyo and Dresden than in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The pain and suffering described so poignian
