Originally Posted by Paul Markham

Hitler lost the Battle of Britain because he switched from bombing military targets to civilian. And probably lost WW2 because of that. Bomber Harris lengthened the war by bombing civilian targets instead of military.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were a demonstration of the weapon the US had in their arsenal. They could have bombed Tokyo, an industrial complex. They didn't. They illustrated to the Japanese that resistance was futile, there was no need for America to lose more lives or spend on more arms. They had the ultimate weapon to win a war.

Japan hesitated after the bomb on Hiroshima. Nagasaki showed the US was able and willing to do it again, and again until Japan was flat. No one knew about the radiation situation then, to the degree we know it now.