Alright, I'm taking bets. Who thinks that before it's said and done, the US will apologize to Japan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?



Atomic Apology? US to send first delegation to Hiroshima A-Bomb memorial

Published August 04, 2010
| Associated Press
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TOKYO (AP) — Survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are welcoming a decision by the United States to send its first ever delegation to a ceremony marking the anniversary of the attacks, but are asking for something they aren't likely to get — an apology.

Tokyo has praised the decision to send U.S. Ambassador John Roos to the Hiroshima anniversary on Friday, though some survivors of the attack, which is seen by many in Japan as an unjustified use of excessive force against a civilian population, say they have mixed feelings.

"They best thing they could do would be to apologize," said Terumi Tanaka, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki at age 13 and is now secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Associations. "But I doubt that is going to happen."

Tanaka, whose organization is the only nationwide network of atomic bomb survivors, said the decision to send Roos is a positive sign of U.S. resolve to abolish nuclear weapons.

"We welcome the visit. But without an apology, it is difficult for us," he said. "We aren't asking for reparations. We simply want the U.S. to apologize and get rid of its nuclear arsenal."


Roos visited Hiroshima just weeks after he arrived in Tokyo in 2009, and the response was generally positive. But this is the first time the U.S. will send a delegation to the anniversary ceremony itself.

About 140,000 people were killed or died within months when an American B-29 bombed Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Three days later, about 80,000 people died after the United States attacked Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II.

Hiroshima officials on Wednesday said this year representatives of 75 countries will attend the ceremony, along with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Representatives from nuclear powers France and Britain will also attend for the first time.

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba singled out Roos' decision to participate as particularly significant.

"The attendance of Ambassador Roos will further strengthen world opinion toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and, we strongly hope, deepen the resolve of the government of Washington, as a nuclear power, to destroy such weapons," Akiba said in a statement.

Noriyuki Shikata, a spokesman for the prime minister, said the trip is a meaningful chance to influence public opinion toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.

"Since 65 years have passed, rather than demanding the U.S. apologize, at this point it is important to send a message to the world, and to the younger generation, that this must never be repeated," he said.

Roos is not scheduled to speak at the event.

After touring the Hiroshima Peace Museum last October during his first trip to the city, Roos wrote in a guest book that he was deeply moved.

"A visit to Hiroshima is a powerful reminder of the destructiveness of nuclear weapons, and underscores the importance of working together to seek the peace and security of a world without them," he said, according to a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy.

Roos' willingness to travel to Hiroshima has raised hopes that Obama — who is expected to visit Japan in November — may be next.

Calls have grown in Japan for Obama to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki since his speech in Prague envisioning a nuclear-free world and since he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The mayors of both cities have invited him and Japanese newspaper editorials and anti-nuclear groups have pointed out that previous Nobel Peace Prize winners have visited the cities.

"President Obama should go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki himself, as the mayors of those two cities have officially invited him to do, and he should meet with the Hibakusha, survivors of the bombings, to hear their plea that these horrific weapons be abolished so that no one ever suffers as they have," said Kevin Martin, executive director of Peace Action, a Washington-based activist group.

But the apology issue could squelch any such plans.

Signs of sympathy toward Japanese suffering could be seen as criticism of the U.S. decision to drop the bombs — viewed by many Americans as a pragmatic move to hasten the end of the war that the U.S. entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Others see the bombings as crimes against humanity.

"I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect an apology," said Yasunari Fujimoto, secretary-general of the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs. "But what is most important now is that the U.S. is being represented, the suffering of the victims will be acknowledged, and the process toward getting rid of nuclear weapons will get a boost."

Former President Jimmy Carter visited the atomic bomb memorial at the Hiroshima Peace Museum in 1984, after he was out of office. The highest-ranking American to visit while in office is House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who went last year.

 

Hey, this is right up Obama's alley -- symbolism over substance.....

 

From the article,

"Tokyo has praised the decision to send U.S. Ambassador John Roos to the Hiroshima anniversary on Friday, though some survivors of the attack, which is seen by many in Japan as an unjustified use of excessive force against a civilian population, say they have mixed feelings.

"They best thing they could do would be to apologize," said Terumi Tanaka, who survived the 1945 atomic bombing of Nagasaki at age 13 and is now secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Associations. "But I doubt that is going to happen."

So let me get this straight, they think it is ok to send a peace delegation while planning a sneak attack Pearl Harbor. We then beat them back across the Pacific and they refused to surrender. Most estimates put the casualties from invading Japan between 1-2 million dead Japanese and 200,000+ Americans. Dropping the bomb saved millions of Japanese, and stopped the entire country from being bombed to the stone age, yet it was excessive force? Something just doesn't add up...

 

In my opinion, if it would have required using enough bombs to turn the island of Japan into glass from the heat to save one allied life, it would have been the right thing to do, no apologies necessary.

 

I wonder what my great uncle, a Marine sniper who was wounded on Iwo Jima, would think of this article. I doubt I'll be showing him.

 

Dear Japan,

We're sorry... that we didn't invent the bomb three years sooner and save even more lives.

Yours,

America

 

We're sorry that you're azzes got kicked and Japan had sense enough to quit before Tokyo would have had a skyline altering too!! When you awaken a sleeping giant expect to get crushed. From Tora. Tora, Tora.

 

have those little people ever apologized about pearl harbor?

with the way things are going with the muslim mosque in nyc by ground zero it would not surprise me if they put up a japanese sushi stand on the arizona memorial.

 

seriously.. i know what you said wasnt meant to be 100% serious but in all reality I wouldnt be suprised. Crazy things going on for sure these days.

I liked the whole "enough to turn Japan to glass" comment. Nice.

 

Using A-bombs on Japan was widely approved of by Americans at the time, for many good reasons. It saved American lives. It helped Japan surrender so that WWII was FINALLY over. Japan had committed countless atrocities against civilians and allied troops, and payback is a bitch.

WWII was a horrible, nasty, brutal war, and we did what we had to do to save our nation. Lots of horrors committed by all sides.

It pisses me off that 65 years later, a bunch of namby pamby revisers of history will get on their high horses and denounce a tough but necessary decision.

 

i and most everyone that i know are sick of being politically correct.

there are to many that take americans kindness as a sign of weakness.

 

Well said. It seems everyone just needs something to whine about nowadays. War is war, its history and you can't turn back time. I do feel for the people who went through the bombings, but get over it.

 

We don't owe them an apology. We told them we had this new weapon and they should surrender, but didn't so we nuked em. Then again we told them we have another one and they should surrender, and again they refused so we nuked them again. Nuking japan saved American lives which is exactly what our government should be concerned about. I think the right decision was made.

 

I wonder what decision our current administration would have reached if they were under the same circumstances...

 

The Japanese were working in concert with the ***** to make an atomic bomb. About 10 years ago, a group of elderly women that were held as sex slaves by the Japanese Army in WWII came forward to tell their story about their life on Shikotan, an island north of Japan, out of range of US bombers. They told of underground bunkers and labs for the building of the atomic bomb that the Japanese military hoped to use against the US so they could sue for peace and not lose their Imperialistic form of Gov't. The site was discovered, researched, and Japan was about 3 months from having the Bomb when we dropped ours. They would have surely sailed it into San Fransisco Bay and detonated it killing untold amount of civilians. Considering the slaughter of Chinese, Burmese, and other civilians at the hand of the Japanese "warriors", I think maybe they all need to remember why they were the first to suffer under the Bomb. While we live in peace with them today, an apology is a slap in the face to every ounce of blood spilled by them. I think maybe we need to consider having them as a nation, apologize to the survivors of the Pacific War on a monthly basis. And just when is Japan going to pay us for the sunken ships and damages at Pearl Harbor? How about restitution to the families of those that died on the Bataan Death March? Apology?, don't think so.