# Was Hiroshima necessary?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hiroshima-necessary/1031923>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [July 26, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hiroshima-necessary/1031923 "2026-07-26T00:47:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-hiroshima-necessary/1031923/2 "2026-07-26T00:54:56Z")

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I’ll just quote myself:

> [@The use of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was it justified?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-use-of-the-atomic-bomb-in-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-was-it-justified/1021901/90):
>
> Hell, think of [Saipan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saipan) and [Okinawa,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Okinawa) where a total of somewhere between 48,000 and 160,000 civilians died. Either at their own hands, by being drafted to take up arms, as a consequence of being forced to gather supplies for their military, or by Allied artillery.
> 
> > [@Seventy Years Ago Today....](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seventy-years-ago-today/727154/17):
> >
> > Extrapolating from the percentage of the total population which died during the invasions of Saipan and Okinawa, something like six million Japanese would have died if the Allies invaded their homeland. Many of them at their own hands.

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