Why Did The United States Use Weapons Of Mass Destruction?

At times where war was on the horizon, the United States was responsible for making extremely challenging decisions in which the consequences would later affect the course of history itself. Within 20 years, the United States was faced with a choice of utilizing a weapons of mass destruction in both Japan and Cuba. In both cases, the choice to use of weapons of mass destruction against Japan and Cuba was based on the United States’s desire to prevent the loss of
American lives from the result of surface warfare. The United States used the Atomic bombs on
Japan to stop further casualties that would ensue from a Japanese invasion in order to put an end to World War 2. On the other hand, they refrained from launching air attacks amongst Cuba
since
The tension between the United States and Russia grew stronger and stronger as the United States became wary of
Russia’s unloading of military equipment on Cuba. Russia attempted to convince the United
States on multiple occasions that the equipment was of concern as both Ambassador Dobrynin and Soviet Chairman Nikita S. Khrushchev, “[assured] President Kennedy that there would be no ground-to- ground missiles or offensive weapons placed in Cuba. Further … that this military buildup was not of any significance and Khrushchev would do nothing to disrupt the relationship of [the] two countries” 1 . This assurance didn’t last long as the CIA later found proof through a U-

Sellountos 2

2 flight’s photograph of surface-to- air missiles on Cuban territory as well as proof of a submarine base and naval shipyard being constructed. Even with photographic proof and warnings instilled on the placement of missiles on Cuban territory, Russia continued to deny its existence and motives as Khrushchev sent a message to President Kennedy, “that under
5 In contrast, in 1945 the United States was at a standstill with Japan in a seemingly never ending war. The Japanese showed no signs of surrender as it had just finished conquering and massacring hundreds of thousands of chinese civilians during the Rape of
Nanking. 6 The United States had infiltrated the islands although they had not completely invaded the main island. Things were looking dim as Churchill predicted that a complete invasion would,
“sustain 500,000 casualties.”. 7 This was further confirmed by the Secretary of War Henry L.
Stimson. The easiest and quickest solution to ending World War 2 was to completely eradicate its military bases. Stimson informs President Truman that, “the bomb be used against Japan in order to end the war as soon as possible and avoid the huge number of American casualties that an invasion would incur… might be expected to cost over a million casualties to American forces alone”. 8 With this information at hand, President Truman took action to put an end to the deaths of American soldiers lives knowing the tiresome and long toll the war had taken on everyone as he approved the drop of the Atomic bombs.
In the end, the United States had to take action when the lives of American citizens