Atomic Bombs

                   I would have to agree with all of the articles that despite a small potential benefit to ending the war early, the cost and inhumanity of the atomic bombings far outweigh any benefits. The testimony by Akihiro Takahashi seemed to show this the most when he discussed the horror of viewing the blast firsthand and went on to discuss how there were many other ways to potentially end the war. While there is a counterargument that there several warnings about the bombing, none of them seem to be clear about how devastating the bombs would be. The first apparent warning that was given in the Potsdam Declaration, but this this only vaguely stated " The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction" which doesn't necessarily imply the use a weapon as horrifying as the atomic bomb. I've also seen pictures of pamphlets that were dropped to warn the people in the cities, but I haven't found any official sources that confirm that these exist. Furthermore the location of one of the bombings was changed due to weather and other factors so the leaflets wouldn't have done any good anyway. 

                The worst part about the bombs was that unlike traditional bombing there was a radiation zone that caused hundreds of thousands of people to die slowly and painfully. Those that even survived the radiation had horrible scars and disfigurements to serve as a constant reminder to them about the bombing. While it clearly wasn't necessary and we could have figured it out without a demonstration, the one benefit that I can think of for the bombing is that it will hopefully serve as reminder that these weapons should never be used again due to the firsthand accounts and stories of the horror that these bombs can cause.