In Australia, for undergraduate students studying history, this is the most commonly assigned essay topic in World War 2 studies.
Most of the students go into it thinking like you.
Nearly all of them change their mind once they look more deeply at the evidence.
The atomic bombings are a classic case where the popular assumed narrative differs significantly from the facts.
And that’s the reason this is assigned as an essay topic. The idea is to sober up the students a little bit and help them understand that their neat worldviews (USA bad!) are not reflected in the messy reality.
Most of the students go into it thinking like you.
Nearly all of them change their mind once they look more deeply at the evidence.
The atomic bombings are a classic case where the popular assumed narrative differs significantly from the facts.
And that’s the reason this is assigned as an essay topic. The idea is to sober up the students a little bit and help them understand that their neat worldviews (USA bad!) are not reflected in the messy reality.