The atomic bombings did not save lives. They didn’t end the war. The Japanese leadership didn’t even respond to them. We had already so thoroughly brutalized Japan at that point that the loss of two medium sized cities was a drop in the bucket. We annihilated over 30 Japanese cities before we dropped the bombs. The real reason we dropped them was to demonstrate to the Soviets that we had them. The Japanese surrendered because the Soviets were also about to launch an invasion and the Japanese Empire knew they’d get better terms negotiating with us.
Yeah no for sure the atomic bombings were targeting Unit 731 and not like. Cities of civilians. You know, because of how much the US went after Unit 731.
the American occupation forces literally granted many personnel involved in Unit 731, including Shirō Ishii (its lead director), legal immunity from war crime tribunals in exchange for their contribution to US bioweapon research. Japanese war crimes were never a priority, and in some cases they were even an asset, for the United States during and after the war.
