I think it did work in Dresden and Hiroshima. It depends on what your definition of work means. It put a big stamp on the end of horrible confrontations that may have festered. It completely changed the outlook of two of the most respected countries in the world in Germany and Japan. I dont like violence either, and I hate to make silly statements but sometimes they are apt.

If you hit a bully in the nose and kick him in the nuts... Well it works in the schoolyard. Or it used to. Its just a problem figuring out who the bully is and how to kick him.