"I am not the only one who believes that in the long term the atomic bombs saved millions of Japanese lives."
You are absolutely wrong about that. A cursory examination would reveal that Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. There was only one condition that they get to keep their emperor, but the allies ended up following that condition even after the unconditional surrender, so that just wasn't relevant.
And the logic that the atomic bombs were not that bad because there were even worse bombings is just wrong.
This is incorrect. We have the diary of Shigenori Tojo, foreign minister of Japan in August 1945. He describes in detail the cabinet proceedings before and after the dropping of the bombs. Even after the bombs were dropped, half the cabinet (the military half) was still holding out for the terms they'd been offering all along: no foreign occupation, Japan retreats to pre-war borders, Japan handles its won disarmament, and Japan retains the Imperial gov't, meaning the whole structure that started the war in the first place. The Emperor overruled them, but only did so after dropping the bombs because Japan has a long history of emperors being sequestered by the Shogun or cabinet when they did not respect the prerogatives of the actual governing entity.
What the Japanese actually offered for surrender was unconditional surrender except for being allowed to keep a figurehead emperor, which the U.S. recognized as useful for governing post-war Japan, and accepted.
> A cursory examination would reveal that Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. There was only one condition that they get to keep their emperor, but the allies ended up following that condition even after the unconditional surrender, so that just wasn't relevant.
So what you're actually saying is, they weren't willing to surrender under the terms offered to them?
There’s a small bit of truth to the A-bombs saving japanese/American lives if negotiations of surrender were to fall through
But I think modern day, the A-bombs are largely viewed as a show of force against the Soviets. Sort of like D-Day was so Soviets couldn’t steamroll Germany & then take all of Europe as well…
You are absolutely wrong about that. A cursory examination would reveal that Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. There was only one condition that they get to keep their emperor, but the allies ended up following that condition even after the unconditional surrender, so that just wasn't relevant.
And the logic that the atomic bombs were not that bad because there were even worse bombings is just wrong.