Originally Posted by Panache

I think you are probably correct about that. Japan didn't seem that interested in conceding prior to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so it was clearly instrumental in ending the conflict (unlike Dresden).

If we hadn't, it is likely that the war would have continued and racked up an even larger number of deaths. Besides, if it kept them from raping another 20,000 Chinese girls at Nanjing then it was totally worth it.