US President Barack Obama will make a historic visit to Hiroshima, Japan this month – but don’t expect him to apologise for the atomic attack in that city that left tens of thousands dead.
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It will be the first trip by a U.S. president to the Japanese city devastated when an American plane dropped the bomb that ended World War II. “Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future”, said Rhodes.
Obama will visit Asia between May 21 and May 27, starting in Vietnam before moving on to Japan for the annual summit of G7 leaders.
The American and Japanese governments announced Tuesday that Obama would become the first sitting American president to visit Hiroshima, a city nearly entirely destroyed by a USA atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. Some 140,000 people were killed, and others have endured after-effects to this day. “It’s time for a US President to visit Hiroshima’s Peace Park in Japan to honour those who died during the atomic bombing and to affirm the goal of a nuclear weapons free world”.
But then the Tokyo native remembered her emotional meeting with atomic bomb survivors at a nursing home in Hiroshima, which she visited previous year during a school trip to hear their stories.
Terumi Tanaka, the general secretary of the Japanese Confederation of A- and H-Bombs Sufferers Organizations, said his members want Obama to state clearly his intention to eliminate nuclear weapons. What President Obama will do is make note of the fact that the relationship between the United States and Japan has emerged stronger than anybody could have imagined back in 1945.. Washington has explained that Obama will be paying tribute to the victims of the atomic bomb, which included a number of South Koreans, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.
The visit comes more than 70 years after an American B-29 bomber delivered the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima.
Just let Obama go, and talk about his committed to peace and security n a world without nuclear weapons.
At a White House briefing, spokesman Josh Earnest was asked whether he thought Obama would have made the same decision as President Harry Truman. Obama’s decision was welcomed by top United States lawmakers and non- governmental organisations. As Obama’s visit can give a misleading signal to Korea, China and other neighbors by consolidating the image of Japan as victim, his visit is deemed impatient and regretful.
“The president has made this issue, nuclear security, a top priority”, Earnest said.
Japan’s armed forces haven’t fired a shot in battle since the war, and the country has provided land and money for US military bases in return for the protection of its ally’s nuclear umbrella.
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Some visitors to the library said they think Obama’s visit carries a message.
