Comment Re:How many kids died in Hiroshima? Nagasaki? (Score 1) 237
The question is whether to lay down your own life or kill someone to preserve it.
The U.S. invading Japan would've involed a LOT of U.S. soldiers dying. And maybe more Japanese, depending on how strongly they resisted, than the atomic bombings anyway (remember, those were just 2 cities, and we're talking about conquering the entire home islands).
I don't think it would be an easy sell to all the families at home if you told them that X% of their husbands and fathers had to die to end the war. Not that the public was informed about The Bomb or given a choice, but yeah.
Pragmatism ain't pretty.