The atom bombs promised the Japanese military leadership a death without honour. There would be no glorious last stand; they would surrender, or we would exterminate them like vermin. Even to a death cult that did not believe in mercy for the conquered, this was enough to shake their resolve.

The people who pretend that Japan didn't need or deserve to be nuked are at best useful idiots parroting an enemy propagandist. The claim is just another facet of the Marxists' attempts to pretend the Westerner has no culture, no achievements and no moral mandate.