Hiroshima was a war crime

That never should have happened

The US dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima 78 years ago today. Out of the population of 280,000 people, 140,000 died within five months of the blast. These were almost entirely civilians as Hiroshima was not a military target. There were also American POWs who were caught in the blast radius though the US has never acknowledged their presence.

None of these people should have died - Japan was ready to surrender before the bombs were dropped. This is recognized by most historians today. As the Washington Post described in 1994:

The most recent full-scale review of modern expert studies was conducted by J. Samuel Walker, currently chief historian of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and an analyst not associated with any of the contending camps. His study concluded: "Careful scholarly treatment of the records and manuscripts opened over the past few years has greatly enhanced our understanding of why the Truman administration used atomic weapons against Japan . . . . The consensus among scholars is that the bomb was not needed to avoid an invasion of Japan . . . . It is clear that alternatives to the bomb existed and that Truman and his advisers knew it." 

The US strategic bombing survey had concluded the same thing in 1946 - one year after the bomb was dropped:

Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey's opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were simply murder on a large scale. They were not acts of war, but of genocide against the Japanese people. They did not contribute to the war effort. Admiral Leahy, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said:

It is my opinion that the use of this barbarous weapon at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was of no material assistance in our war against Japan. The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender because of the effective sea blockade and the successful bombing with conventional weapons. 

Dwight D. Eisenhower was also opposed to the use of atomic weapons:

I told him [Secretary of War Henry Stimson] I was against it on two counts. First, the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon.

The US continues to spend over $50 billion a year on nuclear weapons, a weapon which should never be used and never should have been used.