The Campbell Doctrine

Major Campbell stepped up to the microphone:

“The consensus rationalization for the offensive deployment of nuclear weapons is that the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was intended to expedite the end of the war in Japan.  This is the primary mode of discourse for those on all sides of the debate:  what is often missing is a discussion of the other effects of the bombings.  It is my opinion that the necessity of the bombing insofar as it actually motivated the Japanese surrender is irrelevant.  What truly mattered was the effect of the bomb on the Soviet Union.  As we all know, the Soviets agreed to enter the war in Asia in August 1945, and invaded Manchuria just before the end of the war.  The atomic bombings, which I personally believe to have been no more militarily effective than the bombing of Dresden or Tokyo, sent a clear message to the Soviets, a message of technological superiority.  In addition, it sent a message of moral superiority to the rest of the world, East and West alike.  The United States, and by proxy our allies in the West, were able to claim responsibility for the capitulation of Japan while denying the Communists and their Eastern bloc credit for their efforts in China.  By establishing America, and America alone, as the winner in the Pacific, we beat not only Japan but the Soviets as well.  We are not only victorious but righteous in our cause, in this Cold War as in the World Wars.  We must fight the Communists at any cost.”

Sources:

Slaughterhouse-Five

The Cold War