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August 07, 2010
Obama Sends US Delegation For The First Time To 65th Year Anniversary of Hiroshima
Obama sent the first U.S. delegation to the annual ceremony to remember the over 100,000 Japanese who lost their lives in the bombing.
Britain and France also sent representatives for the first time.
While some Japanese hailed the presence of the US and other nuclear powers as a sign of commitment to eventual nuclear disarmament, for others it was too little, too late. Some Japanese still want an apology for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while others complained about the absence of President Obama.
Some of Hiroshima’s hibakusha – as atomic bomb survivors are known – criticized the US ambassador for failing to meet with them, apologize for the bombing, or even offer a floral tribute. Others however, saw his visit as a sign of progress.
On the streets of Tokyo, there were mixed feelings regarding the US delegation’s attendance. “It’s good they’ve come, but why has it taken 65 years?” asked an office worker who was watching the morning’s ceremony from Hiroshima on public broadcast NHK. “And really, Obama should be here after the speeches he’s made about nuclear weapons."
US Ambassador to Japan John Roos was joined by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and delegates from over 70 countries as Prime Minister Naoto Kan implored the world to “accept the Japanese people's hope that nuclear destruction never takes place again."
U.S. Sends Ambassador to Hiroshima Ceremony:
At 4:55 on the video it cuts to a newsroom and a woman is interviewed and says " the next logical steip is for the U.S. to apologize for dropping the bomb." Then she goes on to say it was a MYTH that the U.S. had to drop the bomb. OMG this is insane to hear this. sheesh
Harry Truman Quotes on the Atomic Bomb:
The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians.
I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. Its production and its use were not lightly undertaken by this Government. But we knew that our enemies were on the search for it. We know now how close they were to finding it. And we knew the disaster, which would come to this Nation, and to all peace-loving nations, to all civilization, if they had found it first. That is why we felt compelled to undertake the long and uncertain and costly labor of discovery and production. We won the race of discovery against the Germans.
Having found the bomb we have used it. We have used it against those who attacked us without warning at Pearl Harbor, against those who have starved and beaten and executed American prisoners of war, against those who have abandoned all pretense of obeying international laws of warfare. We have used it in order to shorten the agony of war, in order to save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan’s power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us.
Wild Thing's comment......
What about their apology for Pearl Harbor, the Baatan Death March, the Rape of Nanking, and all of the other atrocities they imposed upon our POWs.
The truth is this: The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved lives. As horrific as the consequences were of the bombs, they actually saved the Japanese from even greater death and destruction. But above all, Truman saved perhaps a million Americans from death and injury.
No apololgy should be forthcoming, ever. It was war, a war We did not want nor start. That was then, this is now. They started the War,and we ended it.
The list of Japanese atrocities during WWII are legion and defy belief; as sadistic, cruel and inhuman as that perpetrated by their allies, the NAZIs, in their combined imperial bid to rule to the world. America has ZERO to apologize for, but there is a mountain of misdeeds that Japan has yet to recognize, much less atone for. Japan lost the war but they are completely unrepentant.
IMO the purpose of war - to destroy the enemy until they either submit or are extinguished. This effort to whitewash history will only cause humanity to repeat the tragedies of the past. And we are seeing this kind of thing with obama and his changing the names of the war we are in now. Not wanting to hear the word Islam connected to the terrorirst, heck not wanting the word terrorists connected with the word Mulslims and the list goes on and on with that limp wristed RESIDENT in the WH.
Obama already bowed to the Japanese Emperor...the 5th son of Hirohito, in whose name tens of thousands of Americans and millions of others were slaughtered. Obama is beyond contempt. You want to meet with the emperor as an American, you do it on equal terms, ALWAYS.
Posted by Wild Thing at August 7, 2010 06:49 AM
Comments
There's a group in Japan that wants us to apologize for dropping the A-bomb. Because we are sorry we did it. I am not sorry we did it, it ended the war and saved Millions of lives on bother sides.
Paul Tibbets who was the first pilot to drop the A-bomb on Hiroshima, said, he slept well and never had a problem with it.
When are the Japs going to apologize for starting the war. When is Japan going to apologize to the Koreans, chinese and everybody else Japan killed and tortured which amounted to way over 100,000.
When the War ended in Eruope it was found in Germany they too had been working on an A-bomb but were two years out. The same with Japan. You mean to tell me had Germany or Japan gotten the bomb first they would not have used it. The certainly would have and probably tried to drop it in Honolulu or San Francisco.
No, no apologies.
Posted by: Mark at August 7, 2010 09:29 AM
So much for TORA TORA TORA and GOD bless Harry Truman - "U.S. Nuke Divine Winds..."
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at August 7, 2010 09:58 AM
As long as obama is on an apology bend, do you think he will appologize to the South for their defeat during the Civil War? I know he won't appologize to England for our Revolutionary War because he hates England.
Posted by: TomR, armed in Texas at August 7, 2010 11:17 AM
The Hiroshima Ceremony is designed to make the US look bad using the A-Bomb to end the war. If it's designed to put the US down, you know Obama will either be there or send representatives.
I went to the Truman Library yesterday for the first time. It's eyeopening to see what Harry Truman went through as President.
Posted by: BobF at August 7, 2010 04:43 PM
Mark, well said, that is exactly what would have happened too if Japan or Germany had it like you said.
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 7, 2010 05:32 PM
Darth, yes he did the righit thing.
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 7, 2010 05:35 PM
Tom, good point!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 7, 2010 05:42 PM
BobF., thank you so much for sharing about the Truman Library. What timing too to go now.
Posted by: Wild Thing at August 7, 2010 05:44 PM
If we had not had the bomb to end the war the idiot Japanese who started the war would probably used germ and chemical warfare on the invading US and then Russian Armies.
The Northern two of the four main islands would have been governed like North Korea after half of the Japanese population died in the invasion fighting.
Posted by: Avitar at August 7, 2010 11:51 PM
By the way in calculating how many times the man Dick Cheney is when compared to Obama I keep getting "division by a zero is undifined."
Posted by: Avitar at August 7, 2010 11:57 PM
