Politics, yuck. Stop it please.
I don't have much time for Eliezer's point regarding 'once you've used nukes in anger you can never go back'. Sure, the world was stunned, and rightly so, but what did we learn about humanity that we didn't already know? The most powerful, secular, free nation in the world built a weapon of terrifying potential and used it straight away. That's what we are, and now we know it. Silver lining? We'd better hope so.
'Was it right or wrong?' is a wrong question. It was deemed right at the time, and so it happened. Anyone who claims that they have looked over the evidence and have decided that actually, no, it was the wrong choice, is wasting their time. Equally so if you think it was right. What's important is what we take from it, what lessons we learn from it; the part that has yet to be written.
So, how do we make sure that next time, it's perceived to be the wrong decision?
On August 6th, in 1945, the world saw the first use of atomic weapons against human targets. On this day 63 years ago, humanity lost its nuclear virginity. Until the end of time we will be a species that has used fission bombs in anger.
Time has passed, and we still haven't blown up our world, despite a close call or two. Which makes it difficult to criticize the decision - would things still have turned out all right, if anyone had chosen differently, anywhere along the way?
Maybe we needed to see the ruins, of the city and the people.
Maybe we didn't.
There's an ongoing debate - and no, it is not a settled issue - over whether the Japanese would have surrendered without the Bomb. But I would not have dropped the Bomb even to save the lives of American soldiers, because I would have wanted to preserve that world where atomic weapons had never been used - to not cross that line. I don't know about history to this point; but the world would be safer now, I think, today, if no one had ever used atomic weapons in war, and the idea was not considered suitable for polite discussion.
I'm not saying it was wrong. I don't know for certain that it was wrong. I wouldn't have thought that humanity could make it this far without using atomic weapons again. All I can say is that if it had been me, I wouldn't have done it.