Harry S. Truman Persuasive Essay

There has always been a debate on the necessity of the bomb, but its implications were so severe that such an attack has never been carried out again. Through the Mock Trial, Harry S. Truman was put on trial for crimes against humanity. At the end of the three day trial, and after much deliberation the jury came to the decision that Harry S. Truman was guilty of crimes against humanity. I was not fully content with this decision, however, I am able to understand why the jury came to the decision that they made.
First of all, the jury felt that even though bombing was required to end the war, the US could have dropped conventional bombs. We came to this conclusion since Admiral William stated that the conventional bombs "would have had a similar
effect in terms of death tolls and destruction to the infrastructure." He also pointed out that considering the condition Japan was in at that point in the war it would have been enough to make the Japanese surrender. Including on the opinion to not drop the bomb, the head scientist of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer didn’t agree with the use of the atomic bomb. When Oppenheimer saw how explosive the bomb was he stated "I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” These two compelling witness testimonies convinced the jury that the usage of conventional bombs would have been less damaging for the Japanese people and that the atomic bomb had been almost unnecessary. Furthermore, the jury felt that even though Hiroshima had been targeted since it was an army base it was not sufficient excuse for the use of such a powerful weapon.
We were convinced this way since Admiral William stated "President Truman convinced everyone that the AB would target the military base and the Japanese would surrender, but there was no military benefit when dropping the bomb." We felt that the killing of innocent civilians was immoral and therefore a crime against humanity which simply could not be justified. We came to this conclusion when we were shown evidence 7 which showed the injuries faced by the victims. I believe that by this point the attorneys were trying to use a sympathetic maneuver to convince the jury that Harry S. Truman was guilty which was very clever because it worked. This tactic used by the attorney prevented the jury from looking beyond this point so the jury was very stubborn in their views during our deliberation. "Japanese citizens even today continue to suffer from the radioactive effects of the bomb." (Jade, closing statement) Once she stated this we felt that the dropping of the atomic bomb could not be justified due to the fact that we believed it was a crime against humanity since it had killed 80,000 people and severely injured many more causing them excruciating
pain.
However, I disagree with the decision made by the jury. I believe that the defense had stronger arguments and were able to get their points across in a concise manner. The first argument made by Niko in favor of the US action is that it was most likely that Japan would fight out a long and bloody war if a decisive weapon was not used. I was convinced that this was true since the defense brought up the important idea of the attitude of the Japanese toward war. Niko stated "the Japanese involved the use of non combatants, civilians, as soldiers to fight the war." The defense team then explained that essentially, the entire able population of Japan was expected to fight a lethal war. By stating this the defense team brought up an important argument that Japanese civilians were not innocent non-combatants once they took up weapons in a total war. I believe that this really compelled me in favor of the defense team since they were able to clearly justify the dropping of the bomb was essential since Japan as well as its civilian population was not planning on surrendering.
"Ending the war earlier saved possibly millions of lives, both Japanese and American."(Jake, closing statement) This compelling statement ultimately convinced me that the bombing of Hiroshima was an act that flowed logically from history, and that in retrospect we would not have known what the Japanese would or would not have done like the prosecuting team was stating. Through compelling evidence from the defense team, they were able to explain a logic that ultimately justified itself: Japan surrendered, and Asia was saved from a greater evil. This was the major reason provided for seeking a 'quick end' to the war through the use of the atomic bomb. Therefore in conclusion, the defense team through powerful arguments and creative visuals proved it was absolutely necessary to bomb Hiroshima, because it prevented thousands of U.S. soldiers’ and Japanese civilian deaths and stopped the willingness of the Japanese army wanting to fight to the end.