This is an excerpt from an article written by Secretary of War Henry Stimson in 1947. The possible atomic weapon was considered to be a new and tremendously powerful exploshe, as legitimate as any other of the deadly explosive weapons of modern war. The entire purpose was the production of a military weapon; on no other ground could the wartime expenditure of so much time and money have been justified Had the war continue until the projected Invasion on November 1, additional fire raids of B-20% would have been more destructive of life and property than the very limited number of atomic raids which we could have executed in the same period. Based on this excerpt,why did the United States drop the atomic bomb in 1945? The government wanted to punish the citizens of Japan. The government wanted to end the war without sacrificing more American lives The government wanted to initiate a ground attack on the Japanese mainland to end the war more quickly. The government wanted to prove that its atomic weapons were stronger than the atomic weapons created by Japan.