Something else that runs counter to the claim of the bombings being of a "terrorist" nature are the
leaflet sorties(see also
here) that had been in effect over the entire course of the bombing campaign leading up to Hiroshima.
(below figures all derived from the same source)
Some 70,000–80,000 people, of whom 20,000 were soldiers, or around 30% of the population of Hiroshima, were killed by the blast and resultant firestorm,[135][136] and another 70,000 injured.[137]
That gives Hiroshima a population of roughly 250,000 at the time of the bombing, significantly(approximately 29.4%) lower than the census information listed for Hiroshima as of
2/22/1944. In fact, it's even lower than the wartime population stated in
this portion,The population of Hiroshima had reached a peak of over 381,000 earlier in the war but prior to the atomic bombing, the population had steadily decreased because of a systematic evacuation ordered by the Japanese government. At the time of the attack, the population was approximately 340,000–350,000.[112]
which appears to be explained by the aforementioned
civilian evacuations the Japanese government undertook throughout the bombing campaign, and is in reasonable agreement with the 30% drop derived earlier in my post.
Following Little Boy's aerial detonation over Hiroshima, on August 6
th 1944 the U.S. dropped
more leaflets warning that, barring a surrender, the bombings would continue and that the citizenry should evacuate their cities.
In my opinion, it would be disingenuous to discount the leaflet campaigns having at least been a factor in the population outflow of a hitherto unscathed target such as Hiroshima, and I further claim that in the aftermath of the devastation wrought by Little Boy, they would have been taken even more seriously by the people of Nagasaki.
Terrorists don't telegraph their punches like this.
