Response
	While I do understand that ending a war can be a complicated and risky situation, I don't think that it is justified to use any means necessary to end a war. Using "any means necessary" can lead to a lot of dangerous and harmful decisions being made that would have a lasting impact, even after the war has ended. The biggest example of this that we focused on in the class discussion was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a means of ending World War 2. Several points were made in defense of this bombing, such as the casualties that would have occurred on both sides had we decided to invade the Japanese mainland on foot, or the threat of other countries deploying similar atomic weapons first. These points, like others, are good reasons that one might use to justify such a horrible act, but I think it's also important to consider that some lines were crossed in terms of what was necessary to end the war and what wasn't. For example, many people in the class agreed that the United States didn't give Japan nearly enough time to surrender before dropping the second bomb. This makes the second bomb seem like more of a power move for the US, rather than an actual attempt at ending the pain and suffering of the ongoing war. The US crossed a line in committing such a heinous act in order to prove its power over Japan. And, as a result, Japan suffered greatly for it. The bombs decimated the cities and everything within a large radius surrounding them. And, after the explosions, there were lasting effects that the US hadn't even anticipated. The radiation affected the health and well-being of millions of lives for many years to come, long after the war ended. Through events like these in our country's history, we can see that sometimes the drastic measures taken to end a war is not always worth the destruction it leaves behind. This is further proof that even though these kinds of tactics may seem like a good idea at the time, it's important to be completely sure about which means are justifiable, and which ones are simply unnecessary.

Items

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Meager Survival Guide and Moral Code

3rd Grade | Math | Unit 1: Place Value