User blog comment:Dragonzzilla/Describe Your Mass Effect 3 Ending/@comment-737801-20120903233610/@comment-4721065-20120904075719

Atomic bombing of Japan was NOT necessary to end the war and it wasn't the "cleanest" option either. If the bomb wasn't dropped, the Soviet Union would simply take over the entire Japan (minus Okinawa and a few other American-controlled islands).

The Japanese military, exhausted by the constant bombing of the factories and cities (btw, the napalm bombings killed MORE people than the both Hiroshima and Nagasaki; something to keep in mind) was only able to defend itself in the ground engagements against USA for so long because they massed their troops there, leaving the northern side practically undefended. As such, the Soviet military was able to take over a chain of 4 Kuril Islands in two days: given its superiority in numbers and quality to both Japanese and American troops, the war wouldn't last for more than 2-3 months. One could argue that the Hiroshima was necessary to prevent a nuclear World War between the two superpowers by showing them the terrible carnage it would cause (and even then, the Nagasaki would never be justified), but it smacks of US-centric revisionism to say that it had to be done to end the war.