War with Impunity: How the Atomic Bombs Overthrew Tokyoâs Mortal and Moral Calculus in the Pacific War
In: Journal of American-East Asian RelationsSearch for other papers by Andrew O. Pace in
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Abstract
This article argues that the firebombing of Tokyo on 9â10 March 1945 inaugurated a new moral phase of the Pacific War in which U.S. air and naval forces waged war with impunity. During the spring and summer of 1945, combat over and around Japan became increasingly one-sided. By the end of July, U.S. B-29s were daily wiping out entire cities at minimal human cost to the United States. In August, asymmetric American warfare culminated in the use of atomic bombs to annihilate Hiroshima and Nagasaki without any reciprocal casualties. Japanese hawks had hoped to force a final land battle so long and bloody that the United States would retreat from unconditional surrender but the atomic obliteration of whole cities without any reciprocal losses proved irresistible and overthrew the hard-linersâ plans for peace with honor. Ironically, however, war with impunity became so one-sided that it challenged the Just War Tradition and the principle of reciprocity, creating a disturbing and unexpected moral dilemma for President Harry S. Truman. His wrestle with the morality of using atomic bombs marked the first inchoate steps toward the eventual transformation of American warfare that war with impunity began.
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War with Impunity: How the Atomic Bombs Overthrew Tokyoâs Mortal and Moral Calculus in the Pacific War
In: Journal of American-East Asian RelationsSearch for other papers by Andrew O. Pace in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
This article argues that the firebombing of Tokyo on 9â10 March 1945 inaugurated a new moral phase of the Pacific War in which U.S. air and naval forces waged war with impunity. During the spring and summer of 1945, combat over and around Japan became increasingly one-sided. By the end of July, U.S. B-29s were daily wiping out entire cities at minimal human cost to the United States. In August, asymmetric American warfare culminated in the use of atomic bombs to annihilate Hiroshima and Nagasaki without any reciprocal casualties. Japanese hawks had hoped to force a final land battle so long and bloody that the United States would retreat from unconditional surrender but the atomic obliteration of whole cities without any reciprocal losses proved irresistible and overthrew the hard-linersâ plans for peace with honor. Ironically, however, war with impunity became so one-sided that it challenged the Just War Tradition and the principle of reciprocity, creating a disturbing and unexpected moral dilemma for President Harry S. Truman. His wrestle with the morality of using atomic bombs marked the first inchoate steps toward the eventual transformation of American warfare that war with impunity began.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 29 | 29 | 29 |
| Full Text Views | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 15 | 15 | 15 |
