War Attacks on Civilian Populations

People all around are dying. The air is raining fire, shrapnel, and ash; their is no escape, nowhere is safe. Individuals are slowly burning to death, the lucky ones die instantly from one of many explosions. Thousands are crying out for any sort of help, and yet, none comes. They are all alone in a dying city. The planes overhead have not come to rescue, but to kill. No sane person could ever feel good about murdering someone, let alone thousands of innocent people, so why is it that so many civilian bombings have taken place throughout the history of war? Ernest Hemingway said, “So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” While attacking civilian populations could bring a quicker end to a war, brutally and mercilessly killing and destroying thousands of innocent human beings is completely morally perverse.
On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima and three days later, one on the city of Nagasaki. Combined, the bombings killed over about 200,000 people. All of them innocent civilians. The cities were flattened, completely decimated. After the bombings, not only Japan’s people, but their fighting spirit as well, was killed. Their surrender came soon after and the war was brought to an end. Many say that by releasing the atomic bombs on Japan, the United States saved hundreds of thousands of soldiers’ lives that would have been lost fighting in future battles. During the time of war, Truman believed that this was the best option to bring the war to a close and in the end, he was correct. The atomic bombs quickly and efficiently ended World War II. But was it truly worth it?
While some say that the lives lost in Japan on those days was less than what would have been lost in future fighting, did they count the amount of lives that would be lost in the future because of the effects of an atomic bomb? The horrific amount of radiation that was released with the explosion of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has caused leukemia and birth defects all the way from directly after the bombing until now. Nothing can be done to reverse these effects. Children of the twenty-first century are still dying today because of one decision to bomb innocent people. Truman made a war decision to bomb the civilians of Japan, but he did not make a humane one. Two atomic bombs killed women and children. Two atomic bombs killed people who may not have supported the war cause. Two atomic bombs killed the futures of generations to come.
The excuses of using civilian attacks to end a war are not excuses at all. There is never a reason for the mass murder of thousands of innocent people. It is unmoral and a terrible act by a country. Most soldiers do not consider the effects or even think about the people who are losing their lives, they are simply following orders. But, maybe if someone did think about the victims more often, then there would be fewer victims. If one were to truly consider the damage they are causing then they would be sickened solely by the idea. No sane person could ever feel good about murdering someone, let alone thousands of innocent people.