i'd say the compassion part is ok, however i do agree with airspirit. on top of that, you should also take into consideration the whole arms race. nobody those days realized the power of these weapons... they were grossly underestimated. with the show of muscle that the US portrayed, this may have curbed much larger catasrophies elsewhere as well if other countries without human regard would have used this first. the japanese (Although not part of this arms race) had no real regard for human life, hence the kamakaze. it was more honorable in that sense to them to die that way, i guess than fighting for another day. i don't know enough about their idealogy to argue that much. that to me is just as frightening.
our leaders at the time _greatly_ pondered this decision, it was failry well thought out. there was much military strategy dealt with, and entire invasion plan was created. however, it was forseen that this would in fact be the least loss of life, especially what was seen from previous battles.
it is a horrible fact, that civilian casualties are a part of war. they cannot be omitted. however, it seems that the US is the most worried about other things. when these other, smaller, more radical countries attack, they do not regard civilians as the US has, and will continue to have. why do you think saddam hussein hid military targets specifically in civilian territory during the gulf war? because americans are afraid to kill civilians. but they aren't. interesting, yes?
and besides, the japanese _did_ start the US involvement in the war. had they not done what they did, it is even remotely possible that the US would not have gotten involved.
and, forgive some of my writing skills, it's very late and i'm very tired, but i think you get my point.
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