Atomic bomb survivors want an apology from Obama.

[Jon-Erich]

Azuren said:
As far as what happened, I remember seeing a History Channel thing explaining that Japan wanted to surrender. When the first warning was issued, Japan said no. So no more Hiroshima.

It got tricky after that. Apparently there is a specific "No" in Japanese that is used in bartering to essentially say "I don't want those terms, but I want what you're offering". I guess sorry of a "let's negotiate this surrender" kind of thing. However, the translator just read it as no. Bomb number two drops on Nagasaki. It was at that point that Japan surrendered under our conditions.

So I believe the first bomb was necessary. It sent a message saying "We can and will end you, and anyone else who thinks they can stop us." But apparently that seconds bomb could have been avoided.

The problem with Japan wanting to suttender is that they did not want to agree to the Potsdam declaration. Their idea was that everybody stops fighting and goes home. They way they wanted it, their government along with the radical right-wing elements of the army and within the government itself would still have been present. That would be just like the US and British accepting Heinrich Himmler's surrender offer that would have freed the Jews but also would have left the Nazi government along with institutions such as the SS intact. By 1945, too much blood had been spilled and too many people had died for everyone to simply turn around and go home.