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Richard, you make a good point about the dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan. The traditional analysis that the reason for the decision was to prevent American casulties has now been questioned.
However, I would suggest that *whether or not they were right*, it seems pretty certain that the primary (although not the only) reason for the decision was the desire to hit Japan with a knock-out blow which was so terrible that even the most fanatical Japanese warlord would be forced to surrender.
Sadly, it seems that even after Hiroshima, there were many Japanese who were willing to keep fighting and (much like Hitler even when the Soviets were a few miles from the bunker) still thought victory was possible. Even after the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, some Japanese were so certain of victory (or so enamoured of an inglorious death) that they were willing to take up arms against their God-Emperor to prevent him from surrendering.
Nevertheless, it is certainly possible that resistance may have crumbled the moment the first American GI stepped onto a Japanese beach. I don't believe it, but you never know.
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