[see Part One] Wikipedia: “Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” is a great resource to further study this issue. More important resources: “Hiroshima: Was it Necessary?” (by Doug Long; opposed to the bombings) NuclearFiles.org (opposed) The latter includes a very helpful page of documented correspondence concerning the decision Quotes: In a private letter written just before he left the White House, Truman referred to the use of the atomic bomb as “murder,” stating that the bomb “is far worse than gas and biological warfare because it… Read more

Hiroshima and Nagasaki fail the Catholic test of “double effect” because they involved the killing of over 200,000 civilian noncombatants. Such an act is condemned in traditional just war criteria which forbids deliberate targeting of such non-military populations. The exceedingly weak counter-argument given by proponents is that these cities had military installations (President Truman absurdly referred to the city of Hiroshima as a “military base”). These were the targets, so we are told, not the civilian population; therefore the dreadful result of… Read more