Here&#x27;s the rub with that argument though, Japan was not a great power in 1945. Indeed there were few enough targets left to drop the bomb on which had not already been devastated by conventional bombing.<p>What Japan still had was a warrior &#x2F; religious culture that would have no problem fighting to the end, as had been demonstrated on island after island. Even had Japan been persuaded to surrender without a total victory Germany post 1918 and the &quot;stab in the back&quot; theory that arose served as a reminder that militaristic cultures can rise again.<p>The dropping of the bombs fundamentally challenged that mindset. It ushered in a weapon that no force of arms, no military culture, no level self-sacrifice or ultimate effort could stop. It enabled the occupation and subjugation of Japan without having to stage an invasion.<p>Atomic weapons then and now are things which are essentially impossible to fit into a legal &#x2F; moral framework - other than to view them as the ultimate insurance policy against humanity&#x27;s darkest nature. They keep us as a species in check. Organised religion didn&#x27;t stop war, so humanity created it&#x27;s own biblical flood, and fortunately has never had to unleash it.