On August 6 and 9, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two bombings were the first and only time nuclear weapons were used in war directly on humans. These bombs were the first of their kind, developed by the United States, Canada and Great Britain under the research development plan known as the Manhattan Project. This is an important question because there is much controversy over whether or not the atomic bombs should have been dropped in the first place. Many parties argue that the bombing was morally wrong because it defied the human rights of many people, but these people fail to see that it was the least violent way to force the Japanese to surrender and end the Second War. worldwide. The United States was justified in dropping the atomic bombs on Japan because it finally brought justice for the atrocious crimes against humanity committed by the Japanese in the city of Nanking, China, saved many American lives, British and Japanese and demonstrated American domination over the Soviet Union. Finally, the atomic bombings were an effective and justified way to end World War II and force Japan to surrender. In 1937, when the Japanese army took control of the Chinese city of Nanjing, they carried out barbaric forms of rape, torture and death against Chinese civilians; justifying American retaliation for dropping atomic bombs on Japan. Additionally, the Japanese suffered a quick and painless death from the atomic bombs, while the people of Nanking suffered long and cruel methods of evil torture. Among the many vile Japanese methods of torture are “funeral castration, organ harvesting, roasting people, and hanging by the tongue” (Chang, 1998, 21). Obviously, the manner in which the Japanese tortured Chinese civilians validates any Soul...... middle of paper ......-1945, the most barbaric and inhumane being the acts perpetrated in Nanking in China; the bombs acted as revenge for the Chinese people. Additionally, an Allied invasion of Japan in 1945 would have cost the Japanese 474% more in military and civilian casualties than the bombings. Additionally, the bombings helped the United States secure its dominance and power over the Soviet Union. . Although World War II was the only period in which nuclear warfare was used, it may still be the most significant because it was a shock to the rest of the world at the potential power and destruction of nuclear weapons. The dropping of the atomic bombs also brought a quick and surprising end to a war that seemed to last forever. Perhaps in the future there will be yet another new weapon of unprecedented destruction, but for now Hiroshima and Nagasaki are the only examples where such a destructive weapon was used..