Rome celebrated spectacular killing events at the Colosseum.  Watching a lion tear apart a Christian was great sport.

Likewise the U.S.A. does some things in an unprecedented spectacular manner.  Certainly dropping the atom bomb following Japan's refusal to accept unconditional surrender during the last days of World War Two calls into question a fateful decision.

Should President Truman have allowed Japan to keep its emperor, whom they considered divine or incinerate Hiroshima and Nagasaki residents when this request was refused?

This remains a debatable question mark in U.S. history.  Some claim the atom bomb attacks saved scored of U.S. lives by ending the war early.  Then came the Vietnam War, spawned dramatically with the domino theory.  Politicians insisted that if Communists weren't stopped in Vietnam then all of Asia would definitely collapse like a row of dominoes.