Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't carpet bombings.  Also, I don't recall the government ever saying whoops about it, seeing how the stated goal from the beginning of the nuclear bombins was to a) flex our new found nuclear powered weapons, and b) get Japan to agree to an unconditional surrender after showing said power. 

The targets were also intentionally picked to impose civilian casualties while not maximizing them.  While the number of civilian lives lost in both those bombings combined is still less than the firebombings of Tokyo, Dresden, Berlin, etc, which were done with dozens if not hundreds of bombers and thousands of bombs, the nuclear bombings involved only 2 bombers, and 2 bombs.  The weight behind this move was enough to fully demoralize the Japanese government, and they called for an unconditional surrender.  Had they not surrendered, we would have done a land invasion of Japan, which would have drawn out the war for many more years and racked up an even larger number of casualties for both sides.

It sucks, but it was the method which would have minimized casualties and brought an end to an already drawn out Pacific War.  This is why no one says "oops" about the atomic bomings, simply because they were used in such a way as to prevent an even greater bloodshed.  However, we do say "oops" about the lingering radiation fallout, as we didn't really fully understand that part at the time.

Yup. SO not doing research is more Thompson like than actually doing research.