After laying a wreath at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Obama reflected on the day “death fell from the sky” and how America’s decision during World War II ended the conflict but also forever changed the world.
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The grandson of former USA president Harry Truman says his grandfather expressed regret over the loss of life in Japan, the site of the world’s first atomic bombing.
President Barack Obama has arrived at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on a historic visit to the city where the USA dropped the first atomic bomb.
“This is why we come to this place, we stand here, in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell”.
“We applaud the president’s decision to honor the brutal lessons of Hiroshima”, said Derek Johnson, executive director of Global Zero, which advocates for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
“Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil”, he continued. Mr Obama laid a wreath first, followed by Mr Abe. By the end of the year the death toll had reached 140,000.
In Japan some believe that by folding one thousand paper cranes one can increase longevity.
“We have known the agony of war”, Obama wrote in the guest book.
“We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them”, Obama said of nuclear weapons. But the White House later said that no such invitation had been extended.
The city of Nagasaki was hit by a second nuclear bomb on August 9, 1945, and Japan surrendered six days later. Many American veteran groups and former prisoners of war opposed a presidential apology, arguing that Japan never apologized for mistreating American prisoners of war. The Hiroshima visit must be a reminder to the next administration that more reductions are not only possible, they are necessary.
Hundreds of atom bomb survivors live in California and for many of them, the President’s historic visit brought back memories of that day.
Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize largely on his stated goal of controlling the spread of nuclear weapons.
For someone “born in Hawaii”, you’d think Obama would prefer visiting Pearl Harbor.
Daniel said Obama did the “right thing”, by honouring the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki while also “remembering the sacrifices of that war and remembering the heroism of American troops and Canadian troops”.
John Bolton, former United Nations ambassador, called Obama’s remarks a “not-too-thinly veiled attack on Harry Truman, whose morals apparently didn’t quite make it up to Barack Obama’s high standards”.
“I still think of the people that died, especially civilians”, Ishikawa said.
“I feel different now. For me, it was more than enough”. He embraced Shigeaki Mori, 79, in a hug.
I hope that he will present in Hiroshima what is good for the happiness of humankind.
Garry Augustine, executive director of the Washington, D.C., office for Disabled American Veterans, which has 1.3 million members, said he thought the speech by Obama “went well”.
“The president gestured as if he was going to give me a hug, so we hugged”, Mori told reporters afterwards.
The rift between the USA and Russian Federation, which together hold more than 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads, has sapped momentum from disarmament efforts. He will be joined by bomb survivors living in the now thriving city.
Abe’s government has affirmed past official apologies over the war but said future generations should not be burdened by the sins of their forebears. “But even more so Nanjing should not be forgotten”, the Chinese foreign ministry’s website quoted him as saying. The blast killed 80,000 people immediately.
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“The victims deserve sympathy”, Wang said, “but the perpetrators could never shake off their responsibility”.
