John Lewis has something to say about the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese during WWII. Many have forgotten the importance that this meant symbolically to the Japanese people, and how many American lives were ultimately saved. On August 6, 1945 the American Air Force incinerated Hiroshima, Japan with an atomic bomb. On August 9, Nagasaki was obliterated. The fireballs killed some 175,000 people. They followed months of horror, when American airplanes firebombed civilians and reduced cities to rubble. Facing extermination, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. The invasion of Japan was cancelled, and countless American lives were saved. The Japanese accepted military occupation, embraced a constitutional government, and renounced war permanently. The effects were so beneficent, so wide-ranging and so long-term, that the bombings must be ranked among the most moral acts ever committed. From the Weekly Standard, a lengthy article detailing the decision to drop the bomb. Ramesh Ponnuru writes from a different viewpoint for National Review. VDH also has thought provoking commentary.