There will be no apology which would have been absurd and meaningless had it been tendered. What Obama gave instead, was compassion and the hand of friendship; he moved on to something of far more value though not all who witnessed it around the world will agree...he left the empty symbolism of apologies and hand wringing behind and took a giant stride to the precipice of a future of world wide moral responsibility, a matter of far more value to Japan, America and the rest of the planet. President Obama struck excactly the right note at Hiroshima.
26
Watching President Obama at Hiroshima I was moved by his compassion. I recalled the film "Unbroken", the story of a remarkable man, a WWII veteran, Louis Zamperini.
After his plane crashed into the Pacific he and two buddies faced the challenge of staying alive in a raft for almost two months. One of them did not make it. Finally, Louis and his buddy were rescued, so to speak. They were picked up by a Japanese war ship. Their next challenge was to survive life in a Japanese POW camp. Zamperini was mercilessly tortured by an evil corporal, known as the "Bird", who saw in Louis, an Olympic athlete who ran in the 1936 games in Berlin, strength. Louis represented everything the Bird was not, and he was meant to pay for that. Zamperini managed to survive the entire duration of the war. As the end neared, rumors were rampant that if the Americans won, the POW's would be killed. Thankfully they weren't.
Louis Zamperini suffering from PTSD faced many struggles before going on to become a model citizen back home. Years later, he went back to Japan to visit the Japanese who held him captive to tell them he forgave them. He even sought out the Bird but the Bird refused to meet him. Louis forgave him nonetheless.
To all those veterans writing here who find fault with what President Obama did should take heed from Louis. He said the act of forgiveness is empowering, a show of strength. Hate only eats away from within, destroying the hater. God Bless You Louis.
DD
Manhattan
After his plane crashed into the Pacific he and two buddies faced the challenge of staying alive in a raft for almost two months. One of them did not make it. Finally, Louis and his buddy were rescued, so to speak. They were picked up by a Japanese war ship. Their next challenge was to survive life in a Japanese POW camp. Zamperini was mercilessly tortured by an evil corporal, known as the "Bird", who saw in Louis, an Olympic athlete who ran in the 1936 games in Berlin, strength. Louis represented everything the Bird was not, and he was meant to pay for that. Zamperini managed to survive the entire duration of the war. As the end neared, rumors were rampant that if the Americans won, the POW's would be killed. Thankfully they weren't.
Louis Zamperini suffering from PTSD faced many struggles before going on to become a model citizen back home. Years later, he went back to Japan to visit the Japanese who held him captive to tell them he forgave them. He even sought out the Bird but the Bird refused to meet him. Louis forgave him nonetheless.
To all those veterans writing here who find fault with what President Obama did should take heed from Louis. He said the act of forgiveness is empowering, a show of strength. Hate only eats away from within, destroying the hater. God Bless You Louis.
DD
Manhattan
12
Obama's choice of venue says it all. Instead of being in the US honoring our dead, he's in Japan honoring theirs. He couldn't have gotten it more wrong.
6
“Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” Mr. Obama said in opening his speech at the memorial.
His speech has lyrical quality, but it shouldn't trivialise the atrocities caused by the ferocious bombings. While many Japanese have been able to forgive America and move on, they still have a hard time to come to terms with war crimes they committed during World War II, letting the affected countries still dwelling on historical grievances that are hijacked by leaders to create tensions and stoke nationalism.
Obama's visit to Hiroshima will hardly "send ripples across Asia, a region still grappling with the echoes of World War II."
His speech has lyrical quality, but it shouldn't trivialise the atrocities caused by the ferocious bombings. While many Japanese have been able to forgive America and move on, they still have a hard time to come to terms with war crimes they committed during World War II, letting the affected countries still dwelling on historical grievances that are hijacked by leaders to create tensions and stoke nationalism.
Obama's visit to Hiroshima will hardly "send ripples across Asia, a region still grappling with the echoes of World War II."
7
You expect human ignorance to change in such a dramatic fashion that the leading three nuclear weapons nations of China, Russia and the USA would even think about reducing their military might to the point that they can save hundreds of billions of their taxpayers’ money each year? Just think if any of the three had at least one leader who used common sense they could possibly start a change in their nation’s military focus where their taxpayers would actually benefit. However, it seems that the leaders of these nations have the same mentality as their grandparents and still want to have the biggest stick they can hold. It does not matter that so many of their own taxpayers are hurting and could use the money spent on their WWII silly antiquated system of defense. Not one of the three nations seems to understand that the greater the integration of their own economic systems the far safer they would all be. You would think that on their Memorial Day the applicable nations would see how wrong we/they are and begin to accept changing our/their focuses.
2
Those involved in the nuclear weapons industry should visit the museums in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Then, perhaps, they might realize they are creating horrific weapons, not just technically interesting "gadgets".
6
I think the writer got wrong translations of the sentences on the memorial. The monument was built in the hopes of rebuilding Hiroshima as the city of peace.
The sentences on the memorial stone sum up Hiroshima survivors’ solemn pledge to the dead: "Rest in peace. We shall not repeat the same mistake."
The sentences on the memorial stone sum up Hiroshima survivors’ solemn pledge to the dead: "Rest in peace. We shall not repeat the same mistake."
6
When I visited the beautiful peace memorial in Hiroshima in 2013, I was impressed with the beautiful trees and gardens that fill the site. The museum is very impressive, however, there is no mention of how the US helped Japan rebuild after the war. Gen. Douglas McArthur and the Americans who helped deserve some credit, as it was in some way an act of apology. I am very happy to hears that the American POW's who were also killed are finally being recognized by Japan.
3
Stunning hypocrisy from the potus who's had two illegal wars, violated the US Constitution many times, and has murdered a US citizen abroad w/o trial. I couldn't stand to be within 100ft of that guy...I'd get sick.
8
A world without nuclear weapons? What if, during WWII, Germany developed atom bombs first? What if, during WWII, Japan would never surrender and, therefore, hundreds and thousands of more people would have to die to defeat it without atom bombs? Who can guarantee that there would no similar situations in the future? Don't be so naïve, please.
6
I do hope that Pres Obama and Japan PM Abe's next stop will be the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii...........after all, the Japanese cowardly sneak attack started the war............................no need to apologize for ending the war.
8
Death falls from the sky every time a drone strike occurs. Often, there is "collateral damage"- innocent human beings, including infants and children, who are killed, wounded and maimed. We do indeed need a moral revolution and examine the technology being used that has taken the lives of hundreds of lives and terrorized countless people. Practice what you preach, President Obama.
6
One of the most memorable classes of my life was the lecture by Professor Jules Davids in the US Diplomatic History course at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service back in 1968 on the decisions President Truman and his advisors made in 1945 about whether, how and where to use the two never-been-tested-when-dropped=from-the-air atomic bombs in their arsenal.
Sitting in class, besides understanding all the military and political logic behind the decision, I realized that my father, having survived the Iwo Jima invasion, and my two uncles, having survived the war in Europe, could well have been among the estimated 500,000 or so casualties anticipated if the Japanese mainland had to have been invaded (the only other option for ending the war). Horrific as the use of nuclear or any other weapons is, for our family, looking back, the decision is not even a close one.
Sitting in class, besides understanding all the military and political logic behind the decision, I realized that my father, having survived the Iwo Jima invasion, and my two uncles, having survived the war in Europe, could well have been among the estimated 500,000 or so casualties anticipated if the Japanese mainland had to have been invaded (the only other option for ending the war). Horrific as the use of nuclear or any other weapons is, for our family, looking back, the decision is not even a close one.
17
How I will miss this man--his intelligence, his profound dignity and deep awareness of his role, the elegance, erudition and thoughtfulness with which he represents my beloved country.
20
I just finished reading in my paper version of the NY Times an excerpt from the transcript of President Obama's speech in Hiroshima. In my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine a president Trump ever delivering a speech so eloquent and thoughtful. And I pray that the name Trump is never preceded by the word "President".
19
I think President Obama should watch the 1943 film "Behind the Rising Sun". Perhaps he would begin to understand how Americans felt then, and recognize that Americans today long for a leader that would value the sacrifices made by Americans from all walks have life.
5
So now president Obama, too is supporting the Bernie Sanders' message and carrying it not only to this nation but to the world.
JFK reminded us of this after the Cuban Missile Crises when he was quoted as saying, “Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes. It can no longer concern the Great Powers alone. For a nuclear disaster, spread by wind and water and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. Mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind.”
JFK reminded us of this after the Cuban Missile Crises when he was quoted as saying, “Unconditional war can no longer lead to unconditional victory. It can no longer serve to settle disputes. It can no longer concern the Great Powers alone. For a nuclear disaster, spread by wind and water and fear, could well engulf the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the committed and the uncommitted alike. Mankind must put an end to war--or war will put an end to mankind.”
5
Where are the apologies from Japan for their many many atrocities committed in the name of their GOD(?), Emperor Hirohito?
3
Keep apologizing to all of our former and current enemies all over the world you cry baby.....
Absolutely unfit for office this man.
Absolutely unfit for office this man.
4
Obliterating dishonesty requires a "moral revolution" and paradigm shift. You won't change much without solving the dishonesty problem first.
1
This was an excellent article--no apology should be given to Japan. They were the perpetrators of some of the grossest crimes against humanity during World War II and those scars remain. China has never forgotten and neither has Korea. Were the US to apologize for stopping Japan it would diminish the suffering of other countries. Those who were horrified by the bombing need to consider the other victims of Japan.
7
MORALS is what the Truman administration did away with when it unleashed the Atrocity of Atrocities on August 6 and 9, 1945, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Where were the "morals" on August 5th?
And who is the United States of America – the only country to have ever unleashed the monster that killed the greatest number of people in the shortest time – to preach morals, especially to its only victims?
The hubris!!! Hugs and wreaths and speeches over 70 years too late.
Where were the "morals" on August 5th?
And who is the United States of America – the only country to have ever unleashed the monster that killed the greatest number of people in the shortest time – to preach morals, especially to its only victims?
The hubris!!! Hugs and wreaths and speeches over 70 years too late.
2
Given the number of Hiroshima survivors still with us, the odds are that at least one of those survivors had a father in the fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor.
Has any Japanese leader ever paid his respects at the Arizona?
Has any Japanese leader ever paid his respects at the Arizona?
4
PresidentObama set the right tone respectful of those killed in the war. He also said we should never use nuclear war again. Both Russia and China are militarily expanding, which make it hard to expand limiting nuclear hardware. The President is limited by Congress and attitudes of other nations with nuclear weapons.
3
Yes this is certainly a significant event and I am deeply moved by the eloquent words that were spoken. But I beg to differ. “Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” Mr. Obama said in opening his speech at the memorial. You could change that to 15 years ago on a bright cloudless morning, death fell....or there is this,
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/us-ramping-up-major-renewal-in-nucl...
It is like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/us-ramping-up-major-renewal-in-nucl...
It is like the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing.
"The not so distant past" President Obama spoke about in Hiroshima was too difficult for our former presidents of the past 7 decades to deal with, but once again President Barack Obama has secured his legacy as one of our greatest presidents in the last and this century. An apology was not needed for the American and Alied victory over the Axis with the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was just retaliation for the Axis atrocities, setting the world on fire by starting World War II in jingoistic Japan and unspeakably fascist Germany and Mussolini's Italy. The lives lost during that war are ashes, gone with the wind, and Obama's words at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park were deeply moving, that we need a "moral revolution" to prevent nuclear arms from ever being detonated again. Was America's Ambassador to Japan, President John F. Kennedy's daughter, present at the wreath-laying ceremony in Hiroshima?
3
It is only fitting that Obama chose to visit Hiroshima during his presidency which could well be one of his legacies. We should recall that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize primarily for promoting peace and harmony among nations and especially so for two major intents- one, moving towards a nuclear arms free world and two, developing relationships with all Islamic nations. He convened the first Nuclear Security Summit in 2010 which was followed by three more. While substantial progress has been made, as he rightly says it may not be achieved in his life time. Similarly, he had made efforts to get closer to Islamic countries and here again it is too complex a problem to be sorted out in one's life time with prevailing animosity among Muslim countries themselves.
What he could not achieve as the formal elected leader of the most powerful nation on earth, he can attempt to do after he completes his term. He can pursue his efforts by becoming world's peace ambassador under UN. After all, he had the audacity of hope and has a role model in the great Indian, Gandhi who fought the mighty British empire with no weapons and no formal position or authority.
What he could not achieve as the formal elected leader of the most powerful nation on earth, he can attempt to do after he completes his term. He can pursue his efforts by becoming world's peace ambassador under UN. After all, he had the audacity of hope and has a role model in the great Indian, Gandhi who fought the mighty British empire with no weapons and no formal position or authority.
6
This symbolism by president Obama during the sun set of his years as president from the land of the rising sun, Japan may be remembered for its long awaited moment but beyond that it will be hardly remembered as a trigger for reigniting a "moral revolution". If America is to over see and lead a moral revolution it has to lead by example and begin a moral revolution at home before preaching to the world.
5
Why the first bomb did not cause them to surrender I'll never know. Even after the second the militarists were willing to fight. The Emperor stepped up and stopped it at last.
Those were our only two bombs. If Japan had refused to surrender we'd have had to attack the nation directly with manpower or isolate it and starve them into submission. Both options would have caused greater loss of life than the bombs caused.
I believe the militarists would have preferred the nation disappear rather than suffer defeat. The scene was similar in Germany. Hitler wanted it to be destroyed because the German people weren't fit to live because of their betrayal.
Those were our only two bombs. If Japan had refused to surrender we'd have had to attack the nation directly with manpower or isolate it and starve them into submission. Both options would have caused greater loss of life than the bombs caused.
I believe the militarists would have preferred the nation disappear rather than suffer defeat. The scene was similar in Germany. Hitler wanted it to be destroyed because the German people weren't fit to live because of their betrayal.
3
Minor point, but I was a little disturbed by Obama shaking hands with the Japanese. Surely he knows that is cultural anathema in their culture. They bow when meeting each other. Otherwise, I'm all in
I agree with Trish....best president with worst (undeserved) rap.
8
Eloquent words by the President. Tragically unreal. The technology has been unleashed. Even to rogues. How about Iran? Another Pandora's box.
Robert Oppenheimer's words still ring true.
"If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of the nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The people of this world must unite or they will perish."
Robert Oppenheimer's words still ring true.
"If atomic bombs are to be added as new weapons to the arsenals of a warring world, or to the arsenals of the nations preparing for war, then the time will come when mankind will curse the names of Los Alamos and Hiroshima. The people of this world must unite or they will perish."
10
Obama's trip to Hiroshima is the equivalent of Reagan's laying a wreath at Bitburg Cemetery where members of the SS were buried. Obama should really do some more research and read up about the war against Japan. The Japanese were determined to fight an American invasion of their country to the bitter end. The war could have easily gone for another year or two. The people Obama embraced were our enemies who yelled "Banzi" after Pearl Harbor was attacked. They had friends and relatives in the Japanese Imperial Armed forces who were determined to conquer Asia. Spare me the innocent civilians story--there's no such thing as an "innocent civilian". Civilians worked in the factories producing weapons to kill our soldiers and they totally supported their war effort against us. They cheered Tojo and Emperor Hirohito. All Truman wanted to do was end the war as quickly as possible and if it took dropping a couple of untested bombs called Fat Man and Little Boy on a couple of Japanese cities to do the job then so be it. The rest is history. What's next?? Are we going to rewrite history and declare Truman a war criminal too?
4
The US President is a Pentagon puppet. Period.
I admire and respect President Obama, but here he shows that he is fully under the control of US militarists, who themselves are full partners with Kremlin and NATO militarists. Sustaining the nuclear era which gives these military professionals and their industrial partners power, wealth, and the excitements of apocalyptic tools.
Obama had a chance to propose the US and Russian Federation taking nuclear weapons off instant launch, the step which most nuclear weapons experts and scholars from outside the DoD have been strongly advocating. He did not do that. There is no explanation for this decisive failure except that the Pentagon technocrats hold sway over the Presidency.
I admire and respect President Obama, but here he shows that he is fully under the control of US militarists, who themselves are full partners with Kremlin and NATO militarists. Sustaining the nuclear era which gives these military professionals and their industrial partners power, wealth, and the excitements of apocalyptic tools.
Obama had a chance to propose the US and Russian Federation taking nuclear weapons off instant launch, the step which most nuclear weapons experts and scholars from outside the DoD have been strongly advocating. He did not do that. There is no explanation for this decisive failure except that the Pentagon technocrats hold sway over the Presidency.
It is unfortunate that this visit might do more to promote militarization than anything else. Whatever Obama may have said about working toward a peaceful future, this visit is clearly, to at least some extent, a big reward for Japan's Shinzuo Abe, for his support of U.S. military involvement in Japan and his own efforts to build a new Japanese military with offensive capabilities. His goal, which will be furthered by Obama's visit, is to to reverse Japan's 70-year constitutional commitment to non-aggression.
4
A hallmark of any future "moral revolution" should be peaceful co-existence which has been lacking during the cold war years and hostile attempts at regime change that has led to the epic migration due to disruption in stability in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. As the only country to have dropped atomic bombs in the last century and spear headed the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq and regime change in Syria and Libya, the USA under the leadership of Bush and Obama have no moral authority to lead the "moral revolution" Just paying belated homage to the survivors and victims of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima does not earn the right to President Obama to launch a "moral revolution" Leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru were the true leaders inspiring "moral revolution" during their times. It is too late in his presidency for Obama to claim leadership of "moral revolution" when he has done little to facilitate a nuclear arms free world during his presidency and an end to the longest American war in Afghanistan. Hopefully our next president could lead the global "moral revolution" by placing America first and not interfering in the governance of the rest of the world and not contributing to the misery and cruelty to our fellow human beings by fueling conflict through regime change, while speaking loudly on behalf of human rights for all with concrete actions.
4
liar, hypocrite. While is spouts honey words he is busy moving NATO closer and closer to Russia, engineering a coup d'etat in Ukraine, killing innocent people with drones, providing Saudi Arabia with weapons with which to bomb yemenis, and encouraging Japan and Vietnam to rearm.
Even the NYT yesterday wrote ".. the new figures ..underscored the striking gap between Mr. Obama’s soaring vision of a world without nuclear arms, .., and the tough geopolitical and bureaucratic realities of actually getting rid of those weapons."
Obama is a terrible disappointment to all who hoped for a different presidency from the USA. He is neither liked nor admired in most of the world.
Even the NYT yesterday wrote ".. the new figures ..underscored the striking gap between Mr. Obama’s soaring vision of a world without nuclear arms, .., and the tough geopolitical and bureaucratic realities of actually getting rid of those weapons."
Obama is a terrible disappointment to all who hoped for a different presidency from the USA. He is neither liked nor admired in most of the world.
4
@ bergamo, that has not been my experience as an American who travels. Compared to traveling during the Bush presidency it is night and day. American presidents need legislative branches that actually function and do not highjack all domestic and foreign policy proposals (cavalierly dragging their country back to the Stone Ages). Obama has restored pride back to the USA because other people recognize his intelligence, historical understanding, and empathy.
11
So the US may go from this President to Trump? I really do hope that more quite Americans exist than Trump Americans!!
13
I think it was appropriate for Obama visit to the Hiroshima Memorial. It show a sense that American and Patriotism is more than just a force for domestic politics, is a sense that this great Nation has a bigger propose that above all political and economical power is a sense of humility to lift up all people together as just one race the human race. I disagree with Obama on lots of issues but I agree with this one of his humility to go to Japan and hug them and propose peace, sometimes a hug can say more than a rhetorical speech. Only if others world powers would do the same to other countries involved on past wars then we would advance a better vision for world peace.
9
Go hug an Isis leader and see what happens. Obama's hugging has made our world more volatile and dangerous.
2
“Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” —Obama at Hiroshima
Less than one year ago, hidden amid the dark clouds of Obama lies and recklessness, looming death—his irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deal with insane, apocalyptic signatories—and the world was changed forever.
Less than one year ago, hidden amid the dark clouds of Obama lies and recklessness, looming death—his irrational, nuke-proliferating, legacy-driven deal with insane, apocalyptic signatories—and the world was changed forever.
5
This is a piece of history that supersedes any sense of patriotism and long ago conflict. Generations have passed, is it possible to move on, or forward?
3
“Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,”
agreed
so then
which "human institution" manages drones assassinations?
agreed
so then
which "human institution" manages drones assassinations?
6
I keep reading: Apologize, never. Not after what the Japanese did.
But apologizing for dropping an atomic bomb on civilians (instead of in an unpopulated area—where the Japanese could observe the colossal effects: they are a very intelligent people) DOES NOT relieve Japan of its guilt in WW II.
And regarding Mr. Obama's statements in Hiroshima:
Calling for a "moral revolution"—he sounds like Bernie Sanders.
But apologizing for dropping an atomic bomb on civilians (instead of in an unpopulated area—where the Japanese could observe the colossal effects: they are a very intelligent people) DOES NOT relieve Japan of its guilt in WW II.
And regarding Mr. Obama's statements in Hiroshima:
Calling for a "moral revolution"—he sounds like Bernie Sanders.
9
The warmth of Obama towards those survivors brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine what we are going to do without this man as our president.
21
Probably be respected as a nation, have our laws obeyed and enforced, gain pride again?
2
I'd like to think Obama is hypocritical in some ways here. However, my final analysis is that he is simply being an American president. I sense in him a desire to be good and to do good which can't come to fruition as president. My worry is that we have become complacent about a reality which has been with us for some time: to be a world leader, one must be a hypocrite. Would that we could have the moral revolution our president mentioned so that our leaders would not have to be hypocrites and that hypocrites could not become leaders.
6
Thank you President Obama to remember to Hiroshima memorial
10
I may not be adding anything new. But the America's guilt for killing innocent lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki I think is driving in a hurry to put a period mark on WWII. Not so fast. The facts are still coming out slowly about the atrocities that Japan caused in Asia. Give the victims in Asia some time to digest and moan and sort out what it means all. Get the facts out would be the major agenda. Yes, Japan was the aggressor but we do not know what kind of aggressor it was because the documents were destroyed. We need to know what happened. Is that too much to ask?
1
Someone, needs to take the disarmament crowd aside and have a nice little sit down chat with them to make them realize that the "Genie" is not going back into the bottle, and that in the age of drug cartels through violent religious war in the middle east, the only thing that stops large scale violence being visited against you is the reliable risk of retaliation, with which being more and more reliable, increases the chances that they will not take certain actions in the first place. While you guys may be moral and ethical, outsiders are certainly less prone to this pattern of thinking.
6
The best apology is a change in behavior. words are cheap.
3
President Obama's demand for 'Moral Revolution" on nuclear arms at Hiroshima Memorial is his manifestation of America's repentance for the aberration of Mr.Truman, seventy years ago.
2
Truman saved the USA and millions of lives during WW2
4
Nowhere is the silence more apparent than it was in today's speeches in Hiroshima. At least Abe toed up to the line, came out and said he intends to present a resolution in August for the "total elimination of nuclear weapons." Obama just wrapped it up in noble sentiment and pious platitudes and the someday we get "morally awakened". It appears he can't distinguish between moral sleep and moral bankruptcy. https://www.facebook.com/notes/red-slider/moral-awakening-is-not-the-pro...
Will we ever again have a president so earnest, decent and courageous? God bless you President Obama
13
"Many historians believe the bombings on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, which together took the lives of more than 200,000 people, saved lives on balance, since an invasion of the islands would have led to far greater bloodshed."
I have a sneaking suspicion that "many historians" means "many American historians. "Many historians" also believe that the bombs were dropped for ulterior geo-political reasons. Others think Hiroshima was warranted, but Nagasaki was not. Unfortunately, the end of this article misses the opportunity to highlight the complexity of views on the dropping of the bombs, as well as that of the history itself that surrounded these events. Instead it falls into a simplistic narrative about Japan's false victim consciousness and the US's righteous actions. I expect more from you, NY Times.
I have a sneaking suspicion that "many historians" means "many American historians. "Many historians" also believe that the bombs were dropped for ulterior geo-political reasons. Others think Hiroshima was warranted, but Nagasaki was not. Unfortunately, the end of this article misses the opportunity to highlight the complexity of views on the dropping of the bombs, as well as that of the history itself that surrounded these events. Instead it falls into a simplistic narrative about Japan's false victim consciousness and the US's righteous actions. I expect more from you, NY Times.
4
Why do you expect more? Journalists are not historians although the often act as though they think they are. They are merely observers and reporters of current events. And the reportage should be objective and impartial. "Should be," but, alas, seldom is... So why expect more from a newspaper? To do so is but to dream...
This was a bad venue to do it in - Hiroshima.
Minimally, a half-million Japanese and a half-million Americans - some would push both to a million, did not die because of the atomic bomb.
Yes, the atomic bomb is bad, and we learned that lesson, but so is war - the world learned that lesson and we learned the "moral lesson" well because the big cataclysm did not occur with Russia.
Obama misfired, badly, on this one, but the world overstepped him and did learn the moral lesson he has finally learned because we did not have a nuclear war - Obama is only catching up now with it - he is young - give him the grace of time.
Minimally, a half-million Japanese and a half-million Americans - some would push both to a million, did not die because of the atomic bomb.
Yes, the atomic bomb is bad, and we learned that lesson, but so is war - the world learned that lesson and we learned the "moral lesson" well because the big cataclysm did not occur with Russia.
Obama misfired, badly, on this one, but the world overstepped him and did learn the moral lesson he has finally learned because we did not have a nuclear war - Obama is only catching up now with it - he is young - give him the grace of time.
The most moving moment i have seen in a long time on TV is President Obama giving the crying Hiroshima survivor a hug. What would Trump have done? Mocked the man? Then laughed and joked about it? World wars could start over the actions of fools like Trump.
9
Yet as enabler in chief of a nuclear deal with Iran where he misled the American public ("anywhere-anytime inspections" for instance) Mr Obama ensured a legal path for the Iranians to create nuclear bombs within years. The hypocrisy stinks.
3
Obama's visit, speech and the action immediately afterwards is no less than apology. It speaks volumes about his personality.
Our president is by all indications a fundamentally decent and kind human being. I don't understand all the vitriol and hatred that has been directed towards him but then again I know why and even the people that despise him and his family know why, in the bottom of their dark souls. They just will never admit it in broad day light.
11
Well, amybe Obama will earn his Nobel Peace Prize some day. Iran and Cuba openings helped, going to nuke bomb site helps. But the drone bombing, dirty wars and support of right wing coups in Honduras (and Brazil really) don't help. Still a lot of work to do, but he can look to Pres. Jimmy Carter as an example. I like to say that former Democrat presidents do good works, and former Republican presidents play golf.
4
Hopefully never again will WMDs be used against any human or other living species.
5
Please spare me the moral lectures about the atomic weapons--no one is dying from them, or fighting over them--instead, moralize about the conventional weapons that kill everyday all around the world. If those disappeared and we were left with only nukes, we'd be much safer. Liberals always chafe over the wrong thing. Ban bullets, bayonets, AK-47s, M-16s, tanks, fighter jets, etc. otherwise, shut up. The unused weapon is a paperweight.
3
I love my President, and I will be very sad to see him leave office. Gracious and dignified, always. I am so proud of him. Thank you, Mr. Obama.
12
Moral Revolution
Yet we do not witness Obama red-lining more of our money for increasingly sophisticated atomic and hydrogen bombs. Where does leadership reside?
Yet we do not witness Obama red-lining more of our money for increasingly sophisticated atomic and hydrogen bombs. Where does leadership reside?
1
Let us not forget that President Nixon owned a Uranium mine in Canada and
Lyndon Johnson owned a Uranium mine in Australia.
I am thrilled to see this message come from President Obama to abandon all nuclear weapons.
The all of humanity, all future generations will be thankful.
Not to mention the Beavers and Lions too :)
Lyndon Johnson owned a Uranium mine in Australia.
I am thrilled to see this message come from President Obama to abandon all nuclear weapons.
The all of humanity, all future generations will be thankful.
Not to mention the Beavers and Lions too :)
1
Do moral revolutions include mink whales?
One thing that has not changed in recent world history. Ethnic cleansing within the same ethnicity does not raise an eyebrow. It only matters when it involves two different ethnicity like what happened with Japan and America here. Other innocent lives were perished in Asia by Japanese during the WWII, and the rest of the world does not care. Nobody has pressured Japan to offer an offical apology to Korea, China, Indonesia, Philippines and even to America. I am guilty in this regard. I have made some donations to UNICEF but I have never been outspoken about genocides in Africa nor anywhere else. For that I am really sorry to humanity.
2
All war is hell. Whether it's flame throwers, atomic weapons, fire-bombing of Tokyo, drone strikes, suicide bombing extremists, or any of the other hideous devices that the military has devised, war in all its varieties is hell. So let's quit making righteous speeches about atomic weapons as if they were the only military horror that is being used around the globe to not just kill but to maim and create suffering. It's war that is hell, not just atomic weapons. So please, Mr. OBama, stop the wreath laying and speechifying, and get busy helping Bernie put the military-industrial complex back in its box.
1
I am reminded of a small statue/memorial in Munich, where a farmer soldier who dies in WWII is buried (or at least memorialized). He was defending his home, the inscription tells us. And so he was. While others performed evil. I stood there a long time, thinking about humanity.
2
What about the Japanese rape of Nanking?
What about the Japanese deforestation of Korea by incendiary bombing of Korea's forests? South Koreans to this very day are not fond of the Japanese.
As Patton said, "War is Hell".
Can we just focus on the future since that's where we're going to be spending the rest of our lives?
The definitive response to World War II and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be drawn from Edmund Burke:
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
What about the Japanese deforestation of Korea by incendiary bombing of Korea's forests? South Koreans to this very day are not fond of the Japanese.
As Patton said, "War is Hell".
Can we just focus on the future since that's where we're going to be spending the rest of our lives?
The definitive response to World War II and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be drawn from Edmund Burke:
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
4
Our "moral revolution" should not only ban all nuclear weapons, but all autonomous weapons, all germ warfare, all land mines as well and their use should be a war crime.
2
This is just sentimental gibberish from a narcissist who is more concerned with his public image, persona, and place in history that with living in the world as it exists. This visit was only possible because almost all American servicemen who fought and suffered to pacify the Empire of Japan have died. Twenty years ago there would have been thousands giving interviews to testify how necessary Hiroshima was.
As to the present day, we do need a moral revolution, but it needs to take place in North Korea, Iran, ISIS, and Middle East nations gripped by Islamist Jihadism. The US can reduce its nuclear stockpile, but everyone knows that it will do nothing to make the world safer.
As to the present day, we do need a moral revolution, but it needs to take place in North Korea, Iran, ISIS, and Middle East nations gripped by Islamist Jihadism. The US can reduce its nuclear stockpile, but everyone knows that it will do nothing to make the world safer.
3
“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?” - Mahatma Gandhi
4
What an awesome President! Too bad so many other red-state Americans want to live in the 1700 hundreds.
6
It's been over 70 years. Resolving not to repeat the actions of past generations is not the same as apologizing for them.
5
“Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,” Mr. Obama said, adding that such technology “requires a moral revolution as well.”
-------------------------------------------------
Well, the guy who uses the technology of unmanned drones to kill people with gay abandon is lecturing everyone on how technology has lethal purposes at odds with morality.
Does this guy have a split personality? Either he does not know/care what he is doing or does not know what he is talking about.
-------------------------------------------------
Well, the guy who uses the technology of unmanned drones to kill people with gay abandon is lecturing everyone on how technology has lethal purposes at odds with morality.
Does this guy have a split personality? Either he does not know/care what he is doing or does not know what he is talking about.
4
Didn't Obama commit over a Trillion dollars to modernize our nuclear arsenal?
Emperor has no clothes to protect his shame.
Emperor has no clothes to protect his shame.
5
Obama worshipper @socrates effuses:
Who doesn't love & admire this fine Presidential student of world history, gifted diplomat & finest statesman the United States has ever had...?
Meanwhile, back on planet earth, let's not forget that while Obama is calling for a stop to nuclear wars, he has spent over 1 trillion dollars of taxpayer money for a new generation of nuclear weapons rather than getting rid of the ones we have. And, more importantly, we've been at war his entire 8 years in office. I voted for him based on his promise to end the war and close Guantanamo. He's done neither.
But, hey...nothing like a legacy-building 'World Tour' in his final year (all at taxpayer expense) to lay the ground for his billion dollar Obama Presidential Library.
Who doesn't love & admire this fine Presidential student of world history, gifted diplomat & finest statesman the United States has ever had...?
Meanwhile, back on planet earth, let's not forget that while Obama is calling for a stop to nuclear wars, he has spent over 1 trillion dollars of taxpayer money for a new generation of nuclear weapons rather than getting rid of the ones we have. And, more importantly, we've been at war his entire 8 years in office. I voted for him based on his promise to end the war and close Guantanamo. He's done neither.
But, hey...nothing like a legacy-building 'World Tour' in his final year (all at taxpayer expense) to lay the ground for his billion dollar Obama Presidential Library.
6
The timing was horribly disrespectful to our military. The day for expressing those sentiments is Aug. 6.
4
Good people do not want wars and people dying.
Bad people and regimes/dictators/terrorists will not stop trying to acquire nuclear weapons and technology just because The UN and U.S. tell them too.
Please stop being naive that peace is possible if we just eliminate our nukes. The bad people out there are now able to get nuke technology more easily than ever before.
Sanctions against North Korea and Iran worked wonderfully right?
See the world for how it really is not how we wish it to be.
Bad people and regimes/dictators/terrorists will not stop trying to acquire nuclear weapons and technology just because The UN and U.S. tell them too.
Please stop being naive that peace is possible if we just eliminate our nukes. The bad people out there are now able to get nuke technology more easily than ever before.
Sanctions against North Korea and Iran worked wonderfully right?
See the world for how it really is not how we wish it to be.
3
God bless President Obama.
4
The few readers commenting about how Japan started the war remind me of myself and my next youngest sister and what we would when our parents caught us fighting: "But Mom, she hit me first!" We knew we weren't supposed fight. It doesn't matter who started the war. War is not a good thing. Like President Obama said in his first inaugural address (when he quoted the New Testament) "It is time to put away childish things." It is time for the world and the US to grow up and use the State Department and diplomacy more and go to war less or, ideally, not at all.
22
Unfortunately, it usually take winning the war to stop it and to have peace.
2
I am gonna miss this President.
23
President Obama struck just the right tone, and touched the very heart of the matter. We share a common humanity, and an urgent common need to rise above the fear and ignorance that separate us. Without such a moral revolution, it's only a matter of time before we destroy our civilization.
9
I feel debate about apology is curious, because no apology is wanted by the majority of Japanese people: Various Japanese newspapers reported that about 80 % in Japan do not want apology. First of all, the monuments in Hiroshima are like tomb stones and Obama's visit was a trip of mourning as well as for peaceful future, I believe. Isn't it natural that Obama was welcome with politeness and thanks? I don't understand why Korean groups claimed apology, because it is far from Japanese way of thinking. Sharing the feeling of mourning with the president of friend country was precious pleasure to Japanese people, I believe.
7
do you know what th japanese did to korea for 50 years before and during th war ?
1
Having served as a physician in the Strategic Air Command fifty years ago I understand the fateful logic that dictates our nuclear force must be continuously updated ad infinitum and the virtual certainty that some future leader will use them.
4
@Mike Murray MD,
Thank you, so much for your service. You understand. But, could you please say how you feel about it?
5-28-16@9:47 am
Thank you, so much for your service. You understand. But, could you please say how you feel about it?
5-28-16@9:47 am
1
Obama revealed himself to be a stealth pacifist in his speech today. This was something many of us suspected, and it will haunt his so-called legacy in the future. The American people need to understand that because of his penchant for pacifism and his attempt to apply those principles to American foreign policy, the world is now a much more dangerous place.
They also need to admit to themselves that the election of Obama was a serious mistake and the problems that he will leave as his legacy will not soon be undone.
The world is much worse off for Obama having been president. And the American people are to blame for that.
I am named for a relative of mine who was shot through the head and killed by a Japanese sniper on May 10th, 1945 at Okinawa. He survived for a day but then died from his wounds.
Allied forces suffered 14,000 killed at Okinawa in the ten-week assault on the island. By comparison, American forces suffered 4,000 killed in ten years in Iraq.
An assault on mainland Japan in 1945-46 would have killed hundreds of thousands more Americans as well as many more Japanese. The price the Japanese paid at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was small by comparison.
It's clear to me that President Obama is prevented by his ideology from understanding this.
They also need to admit to themselves that the election of Obama was a serious mistake and the problems that he will leave as his legacy will not soon be undone.
The world is much worse off for Obama having been president. And the American people are to blame for that.
I am named for a relative of mine who was shot through the head and killed by a Japanese sniper on May 10th, 1945 at Okinawa. He survived for a day but then died from his wounds.
Allied forces suffered 14,000 killed at Okinawa in the ten-week assault on the island. By comparison, American forces suffered 4,000 killed in ten years in Iraq.
An assault on mainland Japan in 1945-46 would have killed hundreds of thousands more Americans as well as many more Japanese. The price the Japanese paid at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was small by comparison.
It's clear to me that President Obama is prevented by his ideology from understanding this.
8
"Paradox." Most people are blind to the idea that almost everything, good or bad, is a contradiction. Nuclear weapons present such a paradox. A weapon so devastating, that it causes enemies to stand back from the brink. A world without nuclear weapons may be a world where conquest has no ultimate consequence.
2
And many historians have pointed out that the the US Strategic Bombing Survey team went to Japan to study the Japanese position right after the war and concluded that the Japanese would have surrendered by November or December without the atomic bombs and without any US invasion of Japan. The Soviet declaration of war against Japan on August 8 was more consequential than the atomic bombs in prompting Japan's surrender. Douglas MacArthur and Dwight Eisenhower and quite a few other US military and civilian leaders criticized the use of the atomic bombs against Japan. It's clearly a myth, however widely believed by politicians and journalists today, that the atomic bombing of Japan saved lives.
3
In those four months of waiting more Japanese would have starved to death or committed suicide than the deaths caused by the bombs. In addition the Japanese military would not have stopped fighting causing even more deaths to the Allied forces.
3
The President did not make clear--and nor should he had--that Japan was responsible for the war. His statement places blame "among civilizations" i.e. he is referring to more than two, more than the US and Japan. The President did not repeat the mistake at Versailles made by the allies and President Wilson, who blamed Germany for starting WWI. The President was wise not to blame Japan.
3
thats funny
th japanese blame th usa for starting th wart by cutting off their oil and scrap metal supplies
th japanese blame th usa for starting th wart by cutting off their oil and scrap metal supplies
1
Who else should be blamed?
Fact: Japan started the pacific theater of World War II.
Fact: The U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
Fact: Japan subsequently evolved into a democracy under American tutelage.
Fact: Japan is now one of America's closest allies.
Fact: Those who don't transcend the constraints of history are doomed to repeat it.
Fact: Those who can transcend the constraints of history have a shot at a better future.
Let us keep this in mind as we judge the policies of our own and other governments.
Fact: The U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
Fact: Japan subsequently evolved into a democracy under American tutelage.
Fact: Japan is now one of America's closest allies.
Fact: Those who don't transcend the constraints of history are doomed to repeat it.
Fact: Those who can transcend the constraints of history have a shot at a better future.
Let us keep this in mind as we judge the policies of our own and other governments.
8
All Japanese don't want to apologize. All Japanese pay biggest respect on his decision and gratitude to the fact that he expressed what people of Japan want to say to the World. It’s very precious because the words are said by the US which is the only country used atomic Bomb to innocent civilians. All Americans believe USA is always correct. That is something start of tragedy.
7
@Shin,
All Americans believe USA is always correct? Do you think that because of this article or some Americans you might have met? With respects, you are wrong. Many Americans would never say or think that the USA is always correct. Many Americans care about innocent people in other countries. Many do not want war or power just for power. Some of us travel, ask questions and know that the world doesn't and shouldn't revolve around the USA. Some of us want world without any killing machines.
Start of tragedy? Please remember Pearl Harbor. Also, please consider: the U.S. military was still segregated. My late father, a Black American, served in WW II before I was born, for a nation that expected him to die for his country--no matter where he was sent during that war--but before he had Civil-Voting rights. In other words, he could die for the US but couldn't vote or couldn't drink for any water fountain in the U.S., before I was born. Better he saw other places in world as a visitor than as a soldier.
Please consider more of the facts before you judge all people from an entire nation and ask more questions. To avoid or forget to this is the start of tragedy.
A weapon free, peaceful world with less global warming, for all inhabitants no matter what kingdom or species. And with no prejudices and wholesome curiosity about each other: not Earth? Not ever? If not, that is the real tragedy. If possibly yes? There's hope. Even if not in my lifetime.
5-28-16@9:43 am
All Americans believe USA is always correct? Do you think that because of this article or some Americans you might have met? With respects, you are wrong. Many Americans would never say or think that the USA is always correct. Many Americans care about innocent people in other countries. Many do not want war or power just for power. Some of us travel, ask questions and know that the world doesn't and shouldn't revolve around the USA. Some of us want world without any killing machines.
Start of tragedy? Please remember Pearl Harbor. Also, please consider: the U.S. military was still segregated. My late father, a Black American, served in WW II before I was born, for a nation that expected him to die for his country--no matter where he was sent during that war--but before he had Civil-Voting rights. In other words, he could die for the US but couldn't vote or couldn't drink for any water fountain in the U.S., before I was born. Better he saw other places in world as a visitor than as a soldier.
Please consider more of the facts before you judge all people from an entire nation and ask more questions. To avoid or forget to this is the start of tragedy.
A weapon free, peaceful world with less global warming, for all inhabitants no matter what kingdom or species. And with no prejudices and wholesome curiosity about each other: not Earth? Not ever? If not, that is the real tragedy. If possibly yes? There's hope. Even if not in my lifetime.
5-28-16@9:43 am
2
I am sick to death of reading the usual paranoid slams of our president, whose grandfather Stanley Dunham, fought against the Japanese, (while the grandfather of Former President George W. Bush, (Prescott Bush) was raking in profits from his business deals with the Nazis).
Our president did not apologize for anything, He simply acknowledged the futility of the militarism that created so many wars, and the cruelty of so many civilian deaths in modern warfare.
Our president did not apologize for anything, He simply acknowledged the futility of the militarism that created so many wars, and the cruelty of so many civilian deaths in modern warfare.
22
As I recall, the Hiroshima Peace Museum did talk about the war and Japanese aggression, and also about Hiroshima as a military manufacturing center. Why no mention of that in this article? There is also a small museum in Nagasaki devoted to the atrocities committed by Japanese in China (Nanking, etc). There is strong denial and Nationalist sentiment in Japan, that was seemingly encouraged by America post-War as it served the purposes in the region. Germany, on the other hand, has had to deal with guilt and regret, and is a much greater nation because of it. I hope the elements of Japanese society that are aware and sophisticated can triumph over the narrow and defensive reactions of the Nationalists. But the same could be said of this country at this time as well.
10
I am deeply moved seeing Obama, a world leader empathetically hugging another man in the photo. I like a version of history where empathy can play a role and where war and conflict are deemphasized.
11
Just imagine how much moral authority it would have gained us had we ( instead of incinerating two cities full of people ) summoned some high level Japanese officials, explained to them the devastating we can deal them, and gave them a very short ultimatum to respond?
I had a strong feeling that's exactly what we would have done had it been, say the Nazis, we wanted to impose a quick end to the war.
But these "were not people like us!"
I had a strong feeling that's exactly what we would have done had it been, say the Nazis, we wanted to impose a quick end to the war.
But these "were not people like us!"
4
What don't you get? They refused to surrender, so who were you going to "summon"?
2
Let us never apologize for defending ourselves. Let us remember that in the end advanced technology was needed to defend ourselves against souls hardened against humanity. But let us now gather as friends and allies and take no shame in regretting together what was done to stop our forebears from destroying each other by sheer force of will.
We need to get past the hatred we ended. Let us be done with it and move forward. Let us continue in this direction as colleagues in the sharing of the water and air of the planet in which we find ourselves together, alive.
We need to get past the hatred we ended. Let us be done with it and move forward. Let us continue in this direction as colleagues in the sharing of the water and air of the planet in which we find ourselves together, alive.
4
Most Americans don't realize Obama's widespread popularity abroad, on display in Hiroshima, results from adherence to Jefferson's maxim in the Declaration of Independence, "a decent respect for the opinions of mankind".
Sure, other Presidents, among them Washington. John Quincy Adams, Lincoln, FDR, JFK and even Truman, in his unadorned way (who else could have changed the world by saying, "Point Four"?) recognized that by explaining America to foreigners they made the world safer.
Sure, the President's speeches are too long (Obama has become the Professor-In-Chief) but his remarks at Hiroshima had a "bind up the wounds", Gettysburg spirit, which should make us all proud. The was vastly more coherent than the protagonists in your earlier editions who argued fecklessly over whether Obama should apologize (he didn't).
In 1958 I visited ground zero at Nagasaki (the ruins of the now rebuilt Urawa Catholic cathedral) a little more than a decade after its destruction. Even then, so soon after the war, I was struck by the lack of personal animus towards Americans, a product of decisions made by FDR and Truman not to repeat the mistakes of Versailles by imposing a Draconian peace and a corresponding willingness of Japan's people to cooperate with MacArthur's democratic reforms..
I can't be certain but Obama's visit is likely to help thwart hardline Japanese revisionists who foster historical amnesia about Japan's responsibility for the war.
Sure, other Presidents, among them Washington. John Quincy Adams, Lincoln, FDR, JFK and even Truman, in his unadorned way (who else could have changed the world by saying, "Point Four"?) recognized that by explaining America to foreigners they made the world safer.
Sure, the President's speeches are too long (Obama has become the Professor-In-Chief) but his remarks at Hiroshima had a "bind up the wounds", Gettysburg spirit, which should make us all proud. The was vastly more coherent than the protagonists in your earlier editions who argued fecklessly over whether Obama should apologize (he didn't).
In 1958 I visited ground zero at Nagasaki (the ruins of the now rebuilt Urawa Catholic cathedral) a little more than a decade after its destruction. Even then, so soon after the war, I was struck by the lack of personal animus towards Americans, a product of decisions made by FDR and Truman not to repeat the mistakes of Versailles by imposing a Draconian peace and a corresponding willingness of Japan's people to cooperate with MacArthur's democratic reforms..
I can't be certain but Obama's visit is likely to help thwart hardline Japanese revisionists who foster historical amnesia about Japan's responsibility for the war.
8
Listening to the President at Hiroshima I was once again struck by his intelligence and reason and it made thinking about our current political season all the more disheartening. Our current situation shows how Americans have failed to embrace reason, how television and the internet have destroyed our attention spans and intellect, how the fact that no one reads books anymore has endangered our civilization. An uneducated and uninformed people are an unreasonable mob. This is not a partisan problem, both sides suffer from the same affliction of close-mindedness and unreasonable rage.
More students than ever before, responding to questionnaires, say they don’t read for fun, people who don’t read are essentially uncurious and don’t question what they are told by authority figures. We can try to comfort ourselves by thinking they are getting good information from the internet but we know that isn’t true.
We are at a crossroads and must choose between a progressive age and an age of unreason and it is becoming clearer every day that the American people, for maybe the first time in our history, lack the skills and knowledge to make that choice.
I will miss this President. I will miss his grace and compassion, but mostly I will miss his reasonableness.
More students than ever before, responding to questionnaires, say they don’t read for fun, people who don’t read are essentially uncurious and don’t question what they are told by authority figures. We can try to comfort ourselves by thinking they are getting good information from the internet but we know that isn’t true.
We are at a crossroads and must choose between a progressive age and an age of unreason and it is becoming clearer every day that the American people, for maybe the first time in our history, lack the skills and knowledge to make that choice.
I will miss this President. I will miss his grace and compassion, but mostly I will miss his reasonableness.
6
Expressing a desire for peace, an aspiration that humanity shall never again see a mushroom cloud over a city, and that war will recede as a prominent feature of our societies is not an apology. Nor is it un-American or unpatriotic.
Mr. Obama said what has needed to be said for decades. Harry Truman did what he thought was necessary to end a long and bloody war. President Truman did not desire that hundreds of thousands of people suffer; he had no choice but to accept that pain and death would be the inevitable result of ending the war. Deaths and suffering would have happened if the U.S. had not bombed the two Japanese cities. They would have instead been the results of a massive invasion. Mr. Obama's point is absolutely NOT that the U.S. did something wrong in 1945. His point is that we all, all humans and all nations, must work harder to make sure that such an awful conflict never happens again. Who can possibly object to that point of view?
Mr. Obama said what has needed to be said for decades. Harry Truman did what he thought was necessary to end a long and bloody war. President Truman did not desire that hundreds of thousands of people suffer; he had no choice but to accept that pain and death would be the inevitable result of ending the war. Deaths and suffering would have happened if the U.S. had not bombed the two Japanese cities. They would have instead been the results of a massive invasion. Mr. Obama's point is absolutely NOT that the U.S. did something wrong in 1945. His point is that we all, all humans and all nations, must work harder to make sure that such an awful conflict never happens again. Who can possibly object to that point of view?
3
The World is not a dangerous place, the military's are.
The real moral revolution has to come from within the world's nations leaders in minimized the outsized influence those world military's have over their leaders.
The whole military glorifications of the forces and the wars will continue as long as money is thrown at them.
Will the leaders of the wolf packs continue to bring the packs into conflict, or will the packs in greater number, snub the leaders of the packs?
The real moral revolution has to come from within the world's nations leaders in minimized the outsized influence those world military's have over their leaders.
The whole military glorifications of the forces and the wars will continue as long as money is thrown at them.
Will the leaders of the wolf packs continue to bring the packs into conflict, or will the packs in greater number, snub the leaders of the packs?
1
I have no doubts whatsoever that Japan would have used the bomb without any hesitation were they first to acquire it. And I'm certain it would have been used with far greater enthusiasm, too.
What we should never forget are the reasons the bomb was dropped in the first place. Not only was Japan the initial aggressor, attacking Pearl Harbor while its defences were down; it was committing such gross acts of barbarism to prisoners of war, the citizens of the countries it occupied, and anyone it saw as its enemy.
Japan was a ruthless, cruel nation at the time of the bombings. An apology should never be considered for one instant.
What we should never forget are the reasons the bomb was dropped in the first place. Not only was Japan the initial aggressor, attacking Pearl Harbor while its defences were down; it was committing such gross acts of barbarism to prisoners of war, the citizens of the countries it occupied, and anyone it saw as its enemy.
Japan was a ruthless, cruel nation at the time of the bombings. An apology should never be considered for one instant.
4
Few thought provoking questions,
1) Who did advise the President Truman to opt for nuke when America had many other modes of 'tit for tat' against Japan for its Pearl harbor attack.
2) Indeed there is no 'moral revolution' occurred in any part of the world but the proportion of the nukes against population has been on escalation in the past seventy years and on rise in the years to come.
My request to President Mr.Obama to make a world convention to wipe out all the nuclear arsenal in the stock pile on the earth. Is it possible? Indeed , it is a pipedream, since the moral revolution is still in the test tube of isotopes and not in our heart and vision .
Pain and sorrow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has become a chain reaction even after seven decades.
1) Who did advise the President Truman to opt for nuke when America had many other modes of 'tit for tat' against Japan for its Pearl harbor attack.
2) Indeed there is no 'moral revolution' occurred in any part of the world but the proportion of the nukes against population has been on escalation in the past seventy years and on rise in the years to come.
My request to President Mr.Obama to make a world convention to wipe out all the nuclear arsenal in the stock pile on the earth. Is it possible? Indeed , it is a pipedream, since the moral revolution is still in the test tube of isotopes and not in our heart and vision .
Pain and sorrow of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has become a chain reaction even after seven decades.
1
I commend president Obama for making this trip to Hiroshima despite knowing that his critics will be salivating at another opportunity to criticize his "weakness". He hasn't apologized, yet has sent a strong message by visiting the monument that commemorates the most vivid example of American wartime atrocities. Obama's presidency has combined lofty rhetoric of peace and de-nuclearization with drone warfare and nuclear modernization, the latter likely to set off another nuclear arms race; arguably a hypocritical record, but also arguably the result of good intentions shaped by the hard knocks of international realpolitik.
For any US leader's de-nuclearization plans to be taken seriously, the US should at least agree to a no-first use stipulation on nuclear weapons. What can be the logic behind wanting a nuclear free world, yet threatening, as US strategy does, to use these weapons first if needed?
In principle, the acts of past generations need not be apologized for based on today's morals. However, I am disheartened by the US Media's unalloyed narrative refusing to acknowledge that many historians credibly argue that the bomb was dropped more as a signal to potential post-war American antagonists of this awesome weapon that would secure pax Americana, than to reduce American and Japanese casualties. It would be mature of us to accept that we, as other great people like the Japanese or Germans, are not incapable of falling short of our highest ideals in the fog of war.
For any US leader's de-nuclearization plans to be taken seriously, the US should at least agree to a no-first use stipulation on nuclear weapons. What can be the logic behind wanting a nuclear free world, yet threatening, as US strategy does, to use these weapons first if needed?
In principle, the acts of past generations need not be apologized for based on today's morals. However, I am disheartened by the US Media's unalloyed narrative refusing to acknowledge that many historians credibly argue that the bomb was dropped more as a signal to potential post-war American antagonists of this awesome weapon that would secure pax Americana, than to reduce American and Japanese casualties. It would be mature of us to accept that we, as other great people like the Japanese or Germans, are not incapable of falling short of our highest ideals in the fog of war.
5
Amidst a changing balance of power, the politics of memory play a critical role in the peace and security of East Asia. We (Japan, China, Korea, and the US) must reflect on what we choose to preserve in our nations' historical narratives, and why. Obama's diplomacy in the region is an unprecedented gesture of American humility and courage, and may be the crucial spark that empowers other regional actors to confront their pasts, and to demonstrate that such actions can be consistent with those of a patriot.
3
Japanese barbarity in WW2 set the gold standard for atrocity in war since Tamerlane murdered 15% of Central Asia in the 14th Century. The Germans were by comparison humane in their actions if not the volume of their Axis war crime. The Chinese are absolutely correct, acts like the rape of Nanjing deserve more attention than the nuclear attacks on two Japanese cities, bombings that were richly deserved. The US should be demanding that Japan fully acknowledge it's ugly history rather going and making nice for the sake of a good impression.
3
I am grateful for Obama that he took this step of being the first of any US President to go to Hiroshima and speak about what are apparent misgivings, as there should be that such a heinous act occurred in human history. And ever since, the threat and escalation of nuclear weaponry has evolved and expanded, making it a concern for everyone. Even as an energy source there are risks that no one should ever want to see realized e.g., Fukushima and Chernobyl. If Obama can't say that we, as Americans are "sorry," he was able to display a sense of sincere regret and empathy that is appreciable.
What I also get is that Obama clearly knows the arsenal the US possesses. It's still being funded significantly as is the US providing nuclear components to other countries. For profit, of course. Obama has no influence to stop that. But he, like every parent wants a world without the threat of nuclear warfare, accidents, etc. So unlike the big mouth, puffed chest theatrical exhortations about what should happen to other countries and leaving everything on the table of one particular presidential candidate.
I regret that Obama did not change the "mindset" that caused some of the "stupid" wars the US has involved itself in over the last 2 decades. That became clear after his warrior styled Nobel Peace Prize winner speech, barely 2 months in office, that dropped the jaws of the NPP committee. Too many deaths by drone since. Not wholesale death like dropping the A bomb. No apologies either.
What I also get is that Obama clearly knows the arsenal the US possesses. It's still being funded significantly as is the US providing nuclear components to other countries. For profit, of course. Obama has no influence to stop that. But he, like every parent wants a world without the threat of nuclear warfare, accidents, etc. So unlike the big mouth, puffed chest theatrical exhortations about what should happen to other countries and leaving everything on the table of one particular presidential candidate.
I regret that Obama did not change the "mindset" that caused some of the "stupid" wars the US has involved itself in over the last 2 decades. That became clear after his warrior styled Nobel Peace Prize winner speech, barely 2 months in office, that dropped the jaws of the NPP committee. Too many deaths by drone since. Not wholesale death like dropping the A bomb. No apologies either.
2
An apology, 71 years later, with Japan still under American military occupation isn't worth a breath and won't do anything for the 180,000 killed.
Accepting moral responsibility for this unspeakable crime against humanity, that started the nuclear race, would be more appropriate, but only, if combined with the US unilaterally declaring its intention to destroy its nuclear arsenal.
Accepting moral responsibility for this unspeakable crime against humanity, that started the nuclear race, would be more appropriate, but only, if combined with the US unilaterally declaring its intention to destroy its nuclear arsenal.
1
My family paid for World War II in blood, not as much as those who made the ultimate sacrifice, but blood nonetheless:
- My mother's father enlisted in the infantry in 1934, and was a radio/gunner in North Africa in 1942-1943. He was wounded in an attack on his air base, received a purple heart and was released from service. He also had seven brothers, six of whom served. I know at least one fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His best friend fought at Utah Beach.
- My father's father piloted a landing craft at Bougainville, in the South Pacific, and fought the Japanese directly. He came back with PTSD and was OCD about germs and cleanliness the rest of his life, a direct result of tropical warfare.
- My mother's mother's brother fought the Japanese at Midway, and went on to retire from the Navy as a Lt. Commander.
There are more. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my full family history. I have served (former Army) as well.
I am well aware of the historic reasons for the use of atomic weapons, and I think they were justified, at least in the context of a war in which civilians were targeted with strategic bombing on both sides (a practice we no longer support, thankfully). However, the Japanese are our friends, and I support this gesture, long overdue, that strengthens our friendship. It is a showing of strength, not one of weakness, and I support it.
- My mother's father enlisted in the infantry in 1934, and was a radio/gunner in North Africa in 1942-1943. He was wounded in an attack on his air base, received a purple heart and was released from service. He also had seven brothers, six of whom served. I know at least one fought in the Battle of the Bulge. His best friend fought at Utah Beach.
- My father's father piloted a landing craft at Bougainville, in the South Pacific, and fought the Japanese directly. He came back with PTSD and was OCD about germs and cleanliness the rest of his life, a direct result of tropical warfare.
- My mother's mother's brother fought the Japanese at Midway, and went on to retire from the Navy as a Lt. Commander.
There are more. Unfortunately, I don't have access to my full family history. I have served (former Army) as well.
I am well aware of the historic reasons for the use of atomic weapons, and I think they were justified, at least in the context of a war in which civilians were targeted with strategic bombing on both sides (a practice we no longer support, thankfully). However, the Japanese are our friends, and I support this gesture, long overdue, that strengthens our friendship. It is a showing of strength, not one of weakness, and I support it.
7
I am a Japanese and have lived in the U.S. since 1989. I worked at Wall Street and experienced 9/11. I did not leave this country although my parents wanted me to come back. I just did not want to. And, this reality -- I am still in the U.S. and reading this memorable article about President's visit seems to me something miracle. Wonderful miracle. I have always supported Mr. Obama. This President will surely be remembered by so many people beyond borders in the world in the future. The American people will be proud of him.
8
Personally I regard the dropping of the A-bomb on Hiroshima as one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. Unlike the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, which was tested in the New Mexico dessert, the weapon dropped on Hiroshima was not. The Americans were so confident that the simple fission gun assembly would work that they did not test it. American confidence! Yes, America confidence! The bomb dropped on Nagasaki was a more complex fusion weapon, hence the need to test it. To me, nuclear weapons are fascinating devises; their evolution from the 1940s to now is a remarkable demonstration of American ingenuity end engineering. Each explosion, whether in combat or testing, was an experiment. They were science on display. I support America’s continued development of nuclear weapons. I support the nation’s efforts to refurbish, maintain, and modernize the existing stockpile. Our stockpile is quite impressive, in fact, inspiring, to see it takes your breath away. Believe me once you see it, you will never be the same, and any doubts you had about America's purpose are washed away. President Obama has supported these aims as well, and for that I applaud him. Until the rest of world becomes less reliant on nuclear weapons, America must maintain its nuclear capability. America never mys relinquish is nuclear hegemony! His remarks in Hiroshima underscored my sentiments precisely.
4
How many Americans were dead in the battle against Japan who never apologized for what atrocities they brought to the world. An apology today is more a formality of military cooperation than a sincere expression of "i am sorry" and conscientious efforts of decreasing the usage of nuclear power. The world knows that unless a better alternative is found, nuclear power will be used more widely because of its efficiency.
Pres. Truman's use of atomic bombs was the fastest way to win the Empire of Japan's war with the US and minimize additional US casualties. However, the history of war illustrates that weapons are like other technologies: they are eventually duplicated or stolen. Notably, Nazi Germany initiated the atomic arms race. Instead of assuring US dominance, our pursuit of the atomic bomb compelled the USSR to similarly work to improve it's national security from “assured destruction” to “mutually assured destruction.”
The result is that we can now initiate an attack that annihilates humanity. The Cuban Missile Crisis, Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov's heroics, Able Archer 83, the Black Brant scare, the DPRK, and dozens of missing nuclear weapons highlight that adding atomic bombs to human folly poses an existential threat.
I don't believe the US had to or should have used atomic bombs because their development alone was sufficient to protect the US at that time, and our example of restraint may have diminished the ensuing Cold War we barely survived. We must always responsibly and multilaterally draw down the world's arsenal to zero. Our past proves that our future depends on it.
The result is that we can now initiate an attack that annihilates humanity. The Cuban Missile Crisis, Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov's heroics, Able Archer 83, the Black Brant scare, the DPRK, and dozens of missing nuclear weapons highlight that adding atomic bombs to human folly poses an existential threat.
I don't believe the US had to or should have used atomic bombs because their development alone was sufficient to protect the US at that time, and our example of restraint may have diminished the ensuing Cold War we barely survived. We must always responsibly and multilaterally draw down the world's arsenal to zero. Our past proves that our future depends on it.
4
"We must always responsibly and multilaterally draw down the world's arsenal to zero. Our past proves that our future depends on it."
If history proves anything it is that the nation with the weakest armory will eventually cease to exist. There will always be people with aggression to be exercised. It is then best to be prepared to meet their aggression with a superior defense. Your utopia is an impossibility.
If history proves anything it is that the nation with the weakest armory will eventually cease to exist. There will always be people with aggression to be exercised. It is then best to be prepared to meet their aggression with a superior defense. Your utopia is an impossibility.
3
"But other atrocities were committed in the war: Dresden, Tokyo, Nanking. Shouldn't representatives of the nations that committed those actions apologize for intentionally targeting civilians?"
Yes, they should. But obviously you can think that and still think that the US President should apologize for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"But Japan hasn't even apologized for its crimes!"
Japan has apologized for the war. But more to the point, the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their families don't have anything to apologize for. They didn't commit those atrocities; the Japanese government did.
"But the bombings were justified! They ended the war."
It's not clear that that justifies targeting civilians. You can't normally kill innocent third parties to realize a morally worthwhile end. But even if the bombings were all things considered justified, they were still prima facie wrong. When you do something that's generally wrong, even though you have exceptional reasons that make it justified in just this case, you may still owe an apology and possible further reparative steps. If I'm caught in a blizzard and see your unoccupied cabin, I have all things considered good reasons to break in to survive. But that's still a violation of your rights, so I owe you an apology and possibly reparations for doing so. I can't just tell you, "tough luck, my act was justified." I have to address a breach of your rights even if that breach was (exceptionally) justified.
Yes, they should. But obviously you can think that and still think that the US President should apologize for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"But Japan hasn't even apologized for its crimes!"
Japan has apologized for the war. But more to the point, the victims of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their families don't have anything to apologize for. They didn't commit those atrocities; the Japanese government did.
"But the bombings were justified! They ended the war."
It's not clear that that justifies targeting civilians. You can't normally kill innocent third parties to realize a morally worthwhile end. But even if the bombings were all things considered justified, they were still prima facie wrong. When you do something that's generally wrong, even though you have exceptional reasons that make it justified in just this case, you may still owe an apology and possible further reparative steps. If I'm caught in a blizzard and see your unoccupied cabin, I have all things considered good reasons to break in to survive. But that's still a violation of your rights, so I owe you an apology and possibly reparations for doing so. I can't just tell you, "tough luck, my act was justified." I have to address a breach of your rights even if that breach was (exceptionally) justified.
1
Some years ago my wife and I toured Hiroshima and Nagasaki under a people-to-people program called Servas. In Hiroshima a young couple invited us into their home. Soon they said, "You must meet our father." With that an aging man came crawling on hands and knees; we could see at once that he was totally blind. He had been a student waiting for a bus at the moment of the nuclear blast. All the others in front of him were instantly killed, but he was spared, only to lose his vision. He was not resentful, simply desirous that peace should exist between our two nations.
If it were possible for me to communicate with heads of state, I would propose that Mr. Abe continue in the spirit of President Obama by visiting Nanking and embracing some of the survivors of the atrocities inflicted by Japanese on the citizens there.
I would further suggest that the date of the Hiroshima nuclear blast be observed as a World Memorial Day for all the victims of all the wars of all the peoples of the planet. To lose a loved one or to suffer bodily injury hurts as much for the victor as for the vanquished. Perhaps we would realize the new mind-set that President Obama calls for.
And that we spend the trillions proposed for "improving' our nuclear arsenal instead on research to heal the world's sufferers from injuries and scars caused by diseases over which we might possibly actually declare victory.
august
If it were possible for me to communicate with heads of state, I would propose that Mr. Abe continue in the spirit of President Obama by visiting Nanking and embracing some of the survivors of the atrocities inflicted by Japanese on the citizens there.
I would further suggest that the date of the Hiroshima nuclear blast be observed as a World Memorial Day for all the victims of all the wars of all the peoples of the planet. To lose a loved one or to suffer bodily injury hurts as much for the victor as for the vanquished. Perhaps we would realize the new mind-set that President Obama calls for.
And that we spend the trillions proposed for "improving' our nuclear arsenal instead on research to heal the world's sufferers from injuries and scars caused by diseases over which we might possibly actually declare victory.
august
20
I am proud of Mr. Obama. It is time, not to apologize (which he did not do), but to acknowledge the suffering of the people and to hold up our shared humanity. There is no doubt that Japan was an aggressor in WWII, but 70 years have passed. The Atom bomb is a terrible weapon which caused terrible suffering. We have little hope of moving beyond periodically destroying one another unless we can acknowledge together how very destructive and painful war is.
39
It is very difficult not to relive what happened during the WWII that Japan caused so much pain and suffering inflicted on its victims. Even after 70 years after the war, the facts are coming out slowly over the years about what happened during the war in Asia. The movie Radio Man shows English POWs in Indonesia went through hell that came out a couple of years ago. Apparently, it only matters what America did to Japan that caused so many innocent lives lost. It is about time to readdress what Japan did during the WWII because they got away with all the atrocities they caused. We all would like to move on but what it takes for a closure to happen is to get all the facts out in the open. Not destroying documents.
1
Obama's going to Hiroshima was in and of itself an apology. it was a completely unnecessary gesture that eleven of his predecessors wisely avoided. As with virtually all of Obama's public appearances, it served as the tvehicle for yet another one of his tiresome sermons during which he called on the world to "morally evolve." Why do we always disappoint him?
1
I can go along with your statement, but NOT when it is delivered by a man committed to extending America's stockpile of these diabolical weapons. I can not for the life of me understand why Obama, nearing the end of his term, would contemplate leaving such an AWFUL legacy of nuclear proliferation, at a staggering cost to taxpayers, while so many challenges at home are ignored. It makes absolutely zero sense. I voted for Obama twice, but frankly, I just have no idea who he is any more.
There is an accord, which is being proposed to the UN, to ban all nuclear weapons, its research, its testing and to completely eliminate the stockpile there of. The US, which is the only country to use nuclear weapons, should offer up more than a 71 years too late apology. They should join this accord.
There is precedent, to outlaw weaponry, this being the use of gas warfare was outlawed. This was the result of the horrific affects it caused during World War I. This is a good opportunity to rid the world of enough nuclear weapons that can destroy the world many times over.
This would be an excellent memorial to those who died, by nuclear weaponry, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In the nuclear war, there are no winners.
There is precedent, to outlaw weaponry, this being the use of gas warfare was outlawed. This was the result of the horrific affects it caused during World War I. This is a good opportunity to rid the world of enough nuclear weapons that can destroy the world many times over.
This would be an excellent memorial to those who died, by nuclear weaponry, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
In the nuclear war, there are no winners.
15
There is a trite saying that if you outlaw weapons, only the outlaws will possess weapons. The same is true of nukes. If the USA signs on to the ban treaty, then only the rogue nations such as North Korea that will not sign on to the pact will possess such deadly weapons.
There are no easy solutions here. The only easy thing to do is to talk in lofty terms while hypocritically spending 1TN dollars to modernize nukes arsenal.
There are no easy solutions here. The only easy thing to do is to talk in lofty terms while hypocritically spending 1TN dollars to modernize nukes arsenal.
3
In Syria chemical weapons and gas has been and may still be used, depite being banned so your precedent doesn't stand. And we already had one nuclear war and we won.
There is never anything pretty about war but you may as well try and ban the wind. There are losers in war and you don't want to be on the losing side.
There is never anything pretty about war but you may as well try and ban the wind. There are losers in war and you don't want to be on the losing side.
The highpoint of this clip is when a Japanese woman who lost her family in the bombing declared that she did not dwell on the past, but only the future, "where true happiness lies." That is beautiful, and so true. Thank God that over the generations we have had leaders that helped bring us into the future, who did not continuously stir up the animosity and hatred. For we are now friends and allies with the Japanese. My own mother spent 3 years in a Japanese concentration camp in Manila. She never fully recovered her health and died just after her 44th birthday. My father fought in the Philippines (which is where they met). My uncle fought at Iwo Jima. How easy it would be to dwell on the suffering and hatred. Frankly, I'd rather have the friendship and the future.
46
Ah, the delightful beauty of seeing Obama embrace the might of the office of his presidency exclusively in the service of decency.
So powerful a man has never been more graceful!
My heart aches just thinking of his departure in about six months. What a void he would leave!
So powerful a man has never been more graceful!
My heart aches just thinking of his departure in about six months. What a void he would leave!
68
Dawit,
I know you're very proud of him, but what you are seeing is paper and cardboard.
And I'm reminded of him, after sending 30,000 more troops to the Afghan meat grinder, going off to Oslo to accept an ill-placed Nobel Peace Prize and lecturing the world about justifiable wars from that pulpit
I know you're very proud of him, but what you are seeing is paper and cardboard.
And I'm reminded of him, after sending 30,000 more troops to the Afghan meat grinder, going off to Oslo to accept an ill-placed Nobel Peace Prize and lecturing the world about justifiable wars from that pulpit
1
I really don't understand the outrage and derision directed at the president for this speech. I would have applauded Bush if he had done this.
You can be a decent country that acknowledges some of the astonishing things that you've done during wartime - and still be a badass. They aren't mutually exclusive.
You can be a decent country that acknowledges some of the astonishing things that you've done during wartime - and still be a badass. They aren't mutually exclusive.
30
While Barack Obama has been a great disappointment as the first Black American President, this was a touching and long overdue tribute to the suffering of the Japanese people. First they were victims of the war-mongering masculine power structure (Japanese patriarchy), and then they were victims of American patriarchy which decided to use nuclear bombs on their island, rather than the closely related, less "others", the Germans. I think Barack Obama's gestures with a pen and a hug, are what he can muster after 8 years steering America deeper into the wasteland for the lawless capitalist oligarchy to burn down like the thermonuclear economic system that it is.
8
I have been more disappointed in my country and the forces that led to the consequences we are dealing with than in the President.The republican canidate that looms as our future president would never have been able to pull this off. He doesn't have the vocabulary or the emotional intelligence.
4
Per the American historical record, the first atom bomb or bombs were intended for Germany but that war ended before the first bomb was ready.
My grandfather served in the US Navy in 1942-44. He was KIA in the Pacific during WWII. If the Japanese had not attacked the US in 1941, he and all of those killed keeping freedom alive would have had 60+ years seeing their kids and grandkids grow up. He and they did not, and Obama having never served doesn't understand that.
20
The Japanese people today are no more responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor than President Obama is responsible for the bomb on Hiroshima. These events and your grandfather's sacrifice are not to be forgotten but they are past. Why not look forward now?
4
My grandfather a Marine, was shot down by the Japanese in 1944, spent 9 months in the hospital in California and barely lived to father 4 daughters one of whom is my mother. I applaud what President Obama did today.
6
Will he stop in Hawaii to do the same thing lay weath on our soldier who died
15
Obama is such a fine statesman when it comes to reciting lofty platitudes about peace and morality, but when he is involved in the nitty gritty of real politic, he is as graceful and adept as a three year old, in a sandbox, who just dropped his ice cream cone on his T-shirt.
10
"A three-year old in a sand box?" This is a perfect example of the covert and overt racism he has dealt with since day one. He is a MAN of intellect and compassion.
4
Remembering is important, friendship today is important. However, you can't for an action that ended the Second World War earlier than anticipated. We can only guess how many lives would have been lost in an allied land invasion of Japan.
13
If we want a moral revolution, let's start by apologizing for our immoral use of nuclear bombs on two Japanese cities, one of the worst war crimes ever.
15
a far worse crime was attacking Pearl Harbor and the killing of POW's . Self defense is not a war crime .
11
I'll wait for the apology for the Bataan Death March and the rape of Nanking and Pearl Harbor and so on. They should be thanking us for giving the right to vote and freeing the surfs from the evil land owners and creating the great democracy they now enjoy. Instead Barry implies it is all our fault. 7 months is too long to wait for this fool to leave.
2
Many people will see Mr. Obama's words as an apology, and they would be right.
10
We should apologize for dropping nuclear bombs on cities; what terror and horror we caused. If we claim to be moral leaders let's set a non-violent example, not use others' violence and transgressions as an excuse to follow suit. Power includes responsibility. Start with an apology.
14
Wrong.
18
I'm not sure why we think violence is the way to create peace. Were all those families in Hiroshima our enemy, or is the human propensity for violent reactions the real problem? While I understand the anger expressed here, I believe that when you have greater power, you must use restraint and only minimal harm to stop the others' aggression. When the US dropped bombs on cities full of children and families, we crossed that line and became the aggressor. Why did we not show the power of our bomb in another way? How about the power of peace?
2
You know what would be a better apologize? Obama going to China and Korea and apologiz for US continuing to sell oil, copper and scrap metal to Japan after Japan force Korean slave labor to work in arms factory and started the invasion of China. The invasion of Manchuria started in 1931 and total war started in 1937 but US did not cut off the flow of war material to Japan until late 1940. You know who actually came to China's aid way before the US? Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Yes, that Nazi Germany. Hitler sent advisors to China to help armament production and gave China German weapon design.
11
Chinese and Korean usually don't bring up this fact because they appreciate the help American volunteers rendered before Pearl Harbor and allience with US during the war but when a US president goes to Japan to affirm Japanese rearmament while skipping China and Korea they know exactly what this is. Obama is apologizing for US bombing Japan and will shield Japan against international pressure.
5
When my 8yo daughter and I were living in Tokyo, I took her to the Museum of the City of Tokyo. In the WWII area, they had video footage on monitors of US planes coming over and releasing the bombs for the firebombing of Tokyo in March 1945.
My daughter said, "Those are the bad guys, right?" I had to say, "No, that was us." She was shocked to hear that we had been at war with Japan. Close friends of ours were Japanese; she could not wrap her mind around it.
What struck me suddenly was how great it was that both sides could let go of the horrors of war and become friends and allies a few short years later. When you look at the long-standing enmities of the Middle East, the ability to forgive and move forward is astonishing and wonderful.
This is the kind of thing that gives the world hope.
My daughter said, "Those are the bad guys, right?" I had to say, "No, that was us." She was shocked to hear that we had been at war with Japan. Close friends of ours were Japanese; she could not wrap her mind around it.
What struck me suddenly was how great it was that both sides could let go of the horrors of war and become friends and allies a few short years later. When you look at the long-standing enmities of the Middle East, the ability to forgive and move forward is astonishing and wonderful.
This is the kind of thing that gives the world hope.
37
It's hard to have a "moral revolution" when we have Donald Trump, now the Republican nominee for President, casually refusing to take nuclear weapons "off the table" with respect to defending Europe and dealing with the Muslim civil war raging across the Missile East. As the country that first developed, and are the only ones to ever use, atomic bombs, we do have a higher moral standard to hold. But, the Republican Party with its unanimous vote against the Iran nuclear deal and now its nominee willing to consider using them are turning their back 50 years of bipartisan treaties to reduce our nuclear arsenal and that of Russia. Unfortunately, such sabre-rattling will not produce peace, but only serve to increase the risk of nuclear Armageddon.
16
To express sorrow and to look ahead as John Kerry stated is what we must do.
Japan is an important and powerful ally. With the military build-up by China and Russia it's naive to think otherwise.
Japan is an important and powerful ally. With the military build-up by China and Russia it's naive to think otherwise.
13
After the fall of Germany in May 1945 a number of diplomatic efforts were made to have them surrender they refused. Operation Down Fall the allied invasion would have led to a half a million allied casualties and millions of Japanese. The U.S. had enough nuclear material ready for nine bombs the third was being prepared and shipped with it's targets selected. The ten year occupation of post war Japan was peaceful and helped in letting Japan have a democratic government and healthy economy focus on that we never enslaved them as they did when they conquered nations a huge fact they like to forget.
13
I'm really proud of our president.
45
meanwhile, in the real world, the Japanese government is considering ways to respond to Chinese military aggression in The South China Sea. Nuclear weapons are now on the table for the Japanese,
5
Japanese aggression was rooted in religion. Their Zen Buddhist military were ethically driven by the three tenets that all religions share: 1. hero worship, 2. unassailable dogma, & 3. thought crime (suppression of critical ideas).
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." - Blaise Pascal
12
Well. that was Shinto, not Buddhism. Big difference.
For all those upset by the president's actions, have you been to Hiroshima? I have and I defy you to go there and learn about what the Japanese experienced and continue to insist we have no sorrow. I don't say apology, I wasn't there at the time so I can't second-guess our decision. But anyone expressing forgiveness and solidarity these days is to be applauded. The rest of our political life domestically and internationally is a nightmare at the moment.
For all those upset by the president's actions, have you been to Hiroshima? I have and I defy you to go there and learn about what the Japanese experienced and continue to insist we have no sorrow. I don't say apology, I wasn't there at the time so I can't second-guess our decision. But anyone expressing forgiveness and solidarity these days is to be applauded. The rest of our political life domestically and internationally is a nightmare at the moment.
1
It wasn't Zen Buddhism. It was a corruption of Shinto religion that devolved into emperor worship.
We should all look forward to President Trump undoing Obama's overtures to peace and humanity and replacing them with pure unadulterated nationalism, making America great again and making himself the greatest. Maybe Trump can drop another atomic bomb on an enemy city somewhere so attention can be diverted from the foolishness of working toward a "moral revolution". Or maybe Trump can go to Hiroshima with a crowd of supporters to chant USA USA USA so no one ever forgets how mighty this country is.
10
Here's a thought: maybe no one needs to apologize. Maybe we all accept this visit for what it is - a remembrance of tragedy and of war and of the dead. These boards are so negative, it's honestly very discouraging.
34
That is was war and in war bad things happen.
1
My late father fought at the Battle of Pelileu in WWII against the Japanese. At the tender age of 20 he lost his ring and middle finger on his left hand and the use of the other two fingers for the rest of his life. MacArthur got it right when he said the ultimate goal of war is victory, something we lost sight in Viet Nam. The Japanese fought ferociously, even maniacally to defeat us and so did we. Our use of atomic weapons was appropriate at that time. I voted for Obama in his first term but he now embarrasses me as my President. My father would have been appalled.
13
I do not think your father would be appalled at what President Obama has done. However, he may be embarrassed of his son for not recognizing that the war is long over and that we have to put our hatred behind us. I hope your father was at peace with himself when he died.
29
My father with a similar story would be proud of the President both for acknowledging the horrors of war and for not apologizing for doing everything we needed to do to win. No embarrassment here.
36
My father was fighting in the Pacific as well, but at 90 years old he met with former soldiers from the Japanese side, and it was like a meeting of old friends.
Besides, Obama was not embracing former war criminals; they were innocent civilians who suffered immeasurably because of the ambition of the Japanese military leadership.
Besides, Obama was not embracing former war criminals; they were innocent civilians who suffered immeasurably because of the ambition of the Japanese military leadership.
5
Its stunning the criticism that the President is getting for his visit to Hiroshima,
probably from some of the same folks who were silent when Reagan visited an
SS cemetery in Germany.
probably from some of the same folks who were silent when Reagan visited an
SS cemetery in Germany.
26
Actually, both events appalled me.
4
Praise for the NY Times for your article on the survivors of the bomb and their accounts of what happened. This was the only meaningful component of Obama's visit. Perhaps some of what they eloquently expressed will cause our president to back away from his self-defeating militarism and his dedication to a trillion dollars worth of newer, more efficient weapons of mass destruction.
4
“We shall not repeat the evil.” are not the words to ignore the wrong doings of Japan in the past. They are the words to give universality to the suffering caused by wars. The evil, wars, can be only caused by human beings. We are all capable of both good and evil. As Hitler was a human being, we all are the same human beings. I think that's the scariest part. That's what “We shall not repeat the evil.” means.
6
Was there no apology?
"the war grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest"
- Did OUR war grow out of the instinct for domination or conquest?
"How easily we learn to justify violence in the name of some higher cause."
- WE were WRONG TO JUSTIFY the bombing.
"The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well."
- But at that time WE didn't have proper morals.
"We can tell our children a different story, one that describes a common humanity, one that makes war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted."
- At that time OUR CRUELTY was more easily ACCEPTED by us.
"We’re not bound by genetic code to repeat the of the past.
the start of our own moral awakening."
- OUR MISTAKES. OUR MORAL AWAKENING.
"the war grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest"
- Did OUR war grow out of the instinct for domination or conquest?
"How easily we learn to justify violence in the name of some higher cause."
- WE were WRONG TO JUSTIFY the bombing.
"The scientific revolution that led to the splitting of an atom requires a moral revolution as well."
- But at that time WE didn't have proper morals.
"We can tell our children a different story, one that describes a common humanity, one that makes war less likely and cruelty less easily accepted."
- At that time OUR CRUELTY was more easily ACCEPTED by us.
"We’re not bound by genetic code to repeat the of the past.
the start of our own moral awakening."
- OUR MISTAKES. OUR MORAL AWAKENING.
1
As a newly minted US citizen, I cannot be more proud of America and my president. President Obama has become truly the leader of the free world, in every sense of the word, power through contemplative and thoughtful diplomacy, strength through understanding and unity. That is the true sign of a mature power, and truly great nation, one that I am now proud to call home. Thank you Mr. President.
12
Fine words Mr President. But my friends grandfather spent years as a POW in concentration camp starvation and torture at the hands of the Japanese. Atrocities committed by this country. Did we have an alternative to ending the war? Dont apologize.
11
I have been watching the commentary on Japanese news every evening this week. The newscasters explain it very well: "Obama considered long and hard before he decided to visit, because it might be seen as an apology. Of course we Japanese might hope for an apology, and some might wonder what the point of coming here is, if he isn't going to apologize. But a majority of the world's historians believe that the bombings shortened the world and saved lives, so he can't say that it was a mistake. And we have no right to expect him to say that. Still, many are overjoyed that he is coming."
The world has been at war for almost the entire period since then. Isn't it reasonable to point out the need for a "moral revolution"?
The world has been at war for almost the entire period since then. Isn't it reasonable to point out the need for a "moral revolution"?
1
I could not be more proud of this president. He truly represents the America that I belong to. Those cynical, hatemongering know-nothings who would dismiss acknowledging the suffering of innocents as a show of weakness are unworthy of this president. And yet their ignorance of who he is and what he has accomplished is to their own detriment. To dismiss this president is to have missed out on something rare and wonderful.
22
Our President's gracious gesture will likely not be universally appreciated but I would hope that it might be respected.
I simply do not understand why so many have labeled this an "apology" tour. It was decidedly not. It was however a stark acknowledgement of how much pain and suffering were, and could be again, caused by instruments of mass destruction.
I am sure the man who gripped the President's hand fully understood the mutual moment of reflection on what this action signified and why the world needs to be constantly reminded what these weapons can do.
What a dramatic contrast between Mr. Obama's vision for the future--peace-- and the GOP candidate's reckless comments showing how little the man understands about history or the need to never forget it.
I simply do not understand why so many have labeled this an "apology" tour. It was decidedly not. It was however a stark acknowledgement of how much pain and suffering were, and could be again, caused by instruments of mass destruction.
I am sure the man who gripped the President's hand fully understood the mutual moment of reflection on what this action signified and why the world needs to be constantly reminded what these weapons can do.
What a dramatic contrast between Mr. Obama's vision for the future--peace-- and the GOP candidate's reckless comments showing how little the man understands about history or the need to never forget it.
28
Here is the decisive action Obama has taken during his 8 years to defang rogue state North Korea, with an estimated 20 bombs and missiles that can hit Tokyo:
3
President Obama stepped up to correct 50 years of a policy of estrangement from Cuba that was not working and would never work by normalizing relations with Cuba. This was followed by his visiting Cuba.
President Obama has visited many countries in the Middle East to speak on democracy, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
And now he is the first President to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and to demand a “moral revolution” against nuclear arms.
Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once said:
“…it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy.”
In all his actions, President Obama has chosen the tough road to build than the easy path to destroy. In visiting Japan, President Obama clearly is promoting peace, improved communications and empathy with the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He has repeatedly chosen the strategy to build greater societies and economies in the world than the easy path of conflicts and misunderstandings. Why? I believe President Obama recognizes that that building is more rewarding and improves outcomes to all.
Thank you sir. You have earned your Nobel Peace Prize.
President Obama has visited many countries in the Middle East to speak on democracy, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
And now he is the first President to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and to demand a “moral revolution” against nuclear arms.
Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, once said:
“…it's very difficult to build and very easy to destroy.”
In all his actions, President Obama has chosen the tough road to build than the easy path to destroy. In visiting Japan, President Obama clearly is promoting peace, improved communications and empathy with the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He has repeatedly chosen the strategy to build greater societies and economies in the world than the easy path of conflicts and misunderstandings. Why? I believe President Obama recognizes that that building is more rewarding and improves outcomes to all.
Thank you sir. You have earned your Nobel Peace Prize.
26
Do we not now absolutely have the right to ask Mr. Abe to lay an identical wreath at Pearl Harbor? To underline that Mr. Obama's visit wasn't an apology, but a "moral awakening" and a symbol of "extraordinary alliance" between Japan and the United States.
5
Nanking, maybe. Pearl Harbor, certainly not. It's a military installation, not a city of women and children and there were good reasons why Japan attacked it.
6
Speak for yourself. You are not the voice of America. You are a voice from America. Are you telling me that the innocent lives of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are more valuable than other millions of innocent lives (women and children) in Korea, China, Indonesia and Pearl Harbor (military base) put together?
6
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were both military targets. Both had war industry, mostly in small shops scattered around the cities. Nagasaki also had a major shipyard where a good number of the Japanese fleet were built.
Its a not a war crime if civilians get killed in military operations. Regrettable but not illegal.
Its a not a war crime if civilians get killed in military operations. Regrettable but not illegal.
1
In referring to the "base instinct for domination", it would have been meaningful if President Obama had noted that our own country has also acted on this basis with tragic consequences. The Mexican-American War, for example, was an act of aggression on the part of the US, begun on the basis of an incident that never happened. The supposed Gulf of Tonkin incident, used to justified stepped up American aggression in Vietnam also had no basis in fact. Millions died. More recently the US invaded Iraq based on false information leading to the deaths of a great many civilians.
4
I'm surprised that no sitting president has had the guts to visit Hiroshima. Massive loss of life has occurred in untold numbers of places. The fact that bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki involved the killing of thousands of civilians at once and then thousands more from radiation poisoning is another sad reality that we should acknowledge and avoid repeating.
I can still remember how I felt reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes at the age of 10. It was heartbreaking to learn about a little girl who suffered such a debilitating death. Even if it ended the war, it was little comfort to her family.
Much as we support our troops, whether or not we support a war, we need to realise that modern warfare needs to humanise the civilians too. The "collateral damage" in modern warfare is someone's sister, father and best friend. Peace is the goal, but would we be willing to pay such a high price?
I can still remember how I felt reading Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes at the age of 10. It was heartbreaking to learn about a little girl who suffered such a debilitating death. Even if it ended the war, it was little comfort to her family.
Much as we support our troops, whether or not we support a war, we need to realise that modern warfare needs to humanise the civilians too. The "collateral damage" in modern warfare is someone's sister, father and best friend. Peace is the goal, but would we be willing to pay such a high price?
7
So, Mr Obama has done away with nuclear weapons in his own country far less than any other post-cold war president. But he still wants the world to stop the North Koreans making bombs. Actions speak louder than words so they say.
All his words at best are an exercise in polemics.
All his words at best are an exercise in polemics.
5
In fairness - north korea is awful and if any nation in Asia shouldn't have these weapons, its north korea.
7
Thank you, Mr. President. The outstretched hand of peace and healing may be slapped away by some in this country; your actions may be derided as insufficiently vengeful; your wish to end our nuclear death spiral may be scorned as naive. But I will for the rest of my life know that an American president has walked in Hiroshima, greeted its residents, and solemnly issued a plea for sanity.
15
The United States not feeling the need to apologize even so many years later is absolutely disgusting. It doesn't matter who started the war in this case. Dropping atomic bombs on tens of thousands of civilians is one of the worst crimes ever committed. And as we now know it was unnecessary (especially the second bomb) and was more about testing the bombs in a real situation than winning the war. Not apologizing for this even now is tantamount to the Germans refusing to apologize for the Holocaust. The United States really does deserve Trump as president. Refusing to apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki out of nothing but pride is absolutely disgusting.
6
You said a mouthful. I absolutely agree. Even if the US HAD been forced to use these diabolical weapons, (which it most assuredly was NOT) it should have long ago issued an apology to the thousands and thousands of innocent people who played ZERO role in the aggression of imperial Japan.
5
Re read the article.
He did *not* apologize.
He did *not* apologize.
6
I continue to be amazed by this President.
He is like the junkie who connives you to give him your watch and also makes you to feel good about doing it.
He is like the junkie who connives you to give him your watch and also makes you to feel good about doing it.
4
Why do you hate him so much, A.Man?
He has done a remarkable, and responsible thing here.
And all you bring is ...hate.
He has done a remarkable, and responsible thing here.
And all you bring is ...hate.
17
Let's see if the Japanese PM shows up at Pearl Harbor or anywhere in China, Korea, Phillipines, etc. and hugs survivors of the murder/brutality of the fascist Japanese of WWII...
10
The Fallen of World War II is a free - donations appreciated, video that really puts the deaths of World War II in perspective. Using a data driven narrative, it is not only brilliant and shows the brutality of the war, but also shows us that since that time we have lived in relative peace.
http://www.fallen.io/ww2/
http://www.fallen.io/ww2/
1
For the record, Obama did not apologize to the people of Japan. The Japanese government did not ask for an apology, and any apology from the US president for the atomic bombings would have created some seriously unwanted problems for Tokyo vis-a-vis other Asian countries.
This is because the overwhelming majority of non-Japanese Asians are not as interested in seeing the US government apologize to Japan for the atomic bombings, as appears to be the case among a sizable number of guilt-ridden residents of white-majority Western nations.
And this is because, for all the talk about Pearl Harbor in the US, the main focus of Japan's war from 1931 to 1945 was waged ruthlessly and brutally by its soldiers and commanding officers against Asian and Pacific Islander civilians--millions of men, women, and children in China, Burma, the Malay peninsula, the Philippines, the East Indies, even obscure places like the Andaman Islands and Nauru.
If you think 95 year-old veterans in Texas would have been outraged by an apology to Japan by the US president, think for a second about how elderly people living in these areas of the Asia-Pacific would have reacted. Diplomatically, Japan really didn't want or need any part of an apology coming from President Obama. I would guess that Japanese diplomats in Seoul, Beijing, Singapore, Jakarta, and Manila really, really did NOT want to hear the words "I'm sorry" from the US president's mouth in Hiroshima. For them, it's headache averted.
This is because the overwhelming majority of non-Japanese Asians are not as interested in seeing the US government apologize to Japan for the atomic bombings, as appears to be the case among a sizable number of guilt-ridden residents of white-majority Western nations.
And this is because, for all the talk about Pearl Harbor in the US, the main focus of Japan's war from 1931 to 1945 was waged ruthlessly and brutally by its soldiers and commanding officers against Asian and Pacific Islander civilians--millions of men, women, and children in China, Burma, the Malay peninsula, the Philippines, the East Indies, even obscure places like the Andaman Islands and Nauru.
If you think 95 year-old veterans in Texas would have been outraged by an apology to Japan by the US president, think for a second about how elderly people living in these areas of the Asia-Pacific would have reacted. Diplomatically, Japan really didn't want or need any part of an apology coming from President Obama. I would guess that Japanese diplomats in Seoul, Beijing, Singapore, Jakarta, and Manila really, really did NOT want to hear the words "I'm sorry" from the US president's mouth in Hiroshima. For them, it's headache averted.
6
japan is the one that should apologize for its atrocities. its government is still paying respect to those war criminals and ignoring in their textbooks the fact that its army killed millions of civilians and raped countless women.
my grandma was in a city in china that got bombed during the japanese invasion. she saw body parts hanging in the trees in city parks and entire streets burnt to the ground.
the people of hiroshima didn't deserve to die but thanks to the bombings, the slaughter in china and other countries didn't have to last much longer. the japanese government should let its citizens know the true history and apologize to the people affected by the war, including those died in hiroshima because of the greed and brutality of its government.
my grandma was in a city in china that got bombed during the japanese invasion. she saw body parts hanging in the trees in city parks and entire streets burnt to the ground.
the people of hiroshima didn't deserve to die but thanks to the bombings, the slaughter in china and other countries didn't have to last much longer. the japanese government should let its citizens know the true history and apologize to the people affected by the war, including those died in hiroshima because of the greed and brutality of its government.
11
There's absolutely no need for President Obama to apologize and I'm glad he hasn't. The Chinese government's official response speaks for me perfectly as a naturalized American citizen: "The Japanese government is trying to use the historic visit to highlight Japan’s image of a ‘war victim’ while downplaying its role as an aggressor in WWII. Obama’s Hiroshima visit should not be used as an occasion to whitewash Japan’s atrocities,” the Xinhua News Agency said.
The history of U.S. involvement in other countries is not glamorous, to say the least. However its role in WWII is an exception. The U.S. government should stand tall for what it did in that war. In this case an apology is alike political correctness. Let's not do that.
The history of U.S. involvement in other countries is not glamorous, to say the least. However its role in WWII is an exception. The U.S. government should stand tall for what it did in that war. In this case an apology is alike political correctness. Let's not do that.
10
Well said, Ben.
2
Ben,
He did NOT apologize.
He did NOT apologize.
5
I understand that there are delicate politics in the act of apologizing and I appreciate Obama's delicate handling of the situation. But when are people (and the media) going to point out that an apology doesn't have to mean that we take all the blame? That an apology is more of a show of strength and wisdom, than weakness. That an apology will gain longer-lasting respect and may inspire other nations to apologize for their own faults. That an apology serves as a warning to future generations that there are lessons to be learned and history not to be repeated. I don't think it's a naive statement to make when I say the ego surrounding the politics of apologizing is quite disgusting.
5
Baloney. Words have meaning. To pretend that an apology is something other than an apology is . . . "disgusting".
An apology is not a "warning".
The Japanese know exactly what an apology is. That well-fed guy holding up the sign saying, "Apologize", is not asking for a "warning to future generations". He's asking an American President to seek forgiveness for JAPAN'S war crimes. He wants Americans to take responsibility for HIS country's predations.
An apology is not a "warning".
The Japanese know exactly what an apology is. That well-fed guy holding up the sign saying, "Apologize", is not asking for a "warning to future generations". He's asking an American President to seek forgiveness for JAPAN'S war crimes. He wants Americans to take responsibility for HIS country's predations.
5
Excellent point. America would earn honor and respect for apologizing for its use of this weapon--long condemned by the military establishment itself, much less the peaceful community. Refusing apology presents the US as an arrogant, idiotic and murderous bully, unworthy of respect.
2
Thanks for demonstrating why world peace will be an incredibly and unnecessarily difficult goal to attain.
1
The apology should not be made to Japan. It should be made to the world for stepping over a line that should never happen. Anyway--Proud of you Mr. President.
2
Obama backed down from the radical government Iran and gave them a pathway to develop a nuke which they say they will use against Israel.
But no worries, they will listen to reason and all will be good with a group hug. Guys like Obama make the blowhard Trump look brilliant.
But no worries, they will listen to reason and all will be good with a group hug. Guys like Obama make the blowhard Trump look brilliant.
4
Dear commenters who are bemoaning an apology - the article is quite clear, no apology was made. The world is a complicated crazy blanked up mess; a lot of stuff in life sucks. Here President Obama demonstrates a little bit of decent humanity. Why do you hate him so? Ask yourselves that. What is it that allows you to not only remain unmoved, but to be outraged, by an image of an elderly gentleman embracing and laying his head upon the President's chest? I really don't understand you. And, frankly, I'm tired of trying.
36
His mere presence at the site represents an apology.
With all due respect, Mr. President, stop this insane "modernization" of our nuclear weapons arsenal which the other members of the "nuclear club" will respond to in kind. And please stop saying that Abolition cannot be done in your lifetime. It's been 71 years and counting... we are running out of time. Time to get beyond Hiroshima. Time to protect the present and the future.(historyasstory.blogspot.com.)
3
Apparently our nuclear weapons are controlled by computers that read 8" floppy disks. But then again maybe the technology is so outdated that it cannot be so easily hacked.
For anyone who's interested, Paper Lanterns, a documentary that chronicles Mr.Mori's efforts to recognize the 12 American POWs who died in the bombing of Hiroshima, and of the journeys of two of those POWs, Normand Brissette of Lowell, Mass., and Ralph Neal of Kentucky, is being shown at the GI Film Festival this weekend in Washington, D.C. The film was made by Barry Frechette of Billerica, Mass. It's well worth seeing.
8
It's often forgotten, or not known, that we fire bombed Japan for months before dropping the bomb. Some 700,000 people, mostly civilians died. Japan did not surrender. Had we not had Atomic weapons it is quite reasonable to assume that another 1 million or more would have been fire bombed. Once the bombs were dropped those possible deaths were spared.
9
Doubtless correct. But then if we did it for the high moral reasons you cite, why did we build more nuclear bombs - and bigger - after the surrender? After we knew what they could do. After the implacable foe had been defeated.
1
Obama's message was more than history, more than the office of the US Presidency, more than the US, more than Japan, more than any country, more than national tribalism it was about humanity.
We, humanity, do need a "moral revolution".
Thank you for saying it.
We, humanity, do need a "moral revolution".
Thank you for saying it.
15
Please think. Deeply.
You know we will not hear universal truths, or see such human presence, from an American President again (no matter what blind cynicism appears in media) if we, worldwide, do not seriously take into consideration what President Obama, with his own pressures and failures surely in mind, has today so eloquently expressed.
He speaks for humankind on the edge.
As Hiroshima! and Nagasaki! have spoken to us for more than 71 years.
All this time miraculously spent on the brink of collective annihilation. A fact that you and I, each in our private ways, deeply understand.
What could possibly be a rebuke to these world-wide thoughts, except from those who point fingers, take sides - making the unthinkable more acceptable, allowing us all to take for granted "a forever imminent threat" to our collective existence?
We have a choice: To see forward positively with hope, or to lean backwards and wait, with sarcasm in our minds and smug and mindless remarks in our voice.
How wrong is that? To be a people bereft of ideals.
No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis! No more Nuclear Threat!
These are the words the Hibakusha, survivors of nuclear bombings, have been expressing for the past 70-plus years. These are the words of our fathers and our children.
Can one possibly write a readable, meaningful, life-fulling, yet-cynical remark to the contrary?
Simply stated,
Shall we evolve?
Or continue the War to an obvious end?
It's our choice.
You know we will not hear universal truths, or see such human presence, from an American President again (no matter what blind cynicism appears in media) if we, worldwide, do not seriously take into consideration what President Obama, with his own pressures and failures surely in mind, has today so eloquently expressed.
He speaks for humankind on the edge.
As Hiroshima! and Nagasaki! have spoken to us for more than 71 years.
All this time miraculously spent on the brink of collective annihilation. A fact that you and I, each in our private ways, deeply understand.
What could possibly be a rebuke to these world-wide thoughts, except from those who point fingers, take sides - making the unthinkable more acceptable, allowing us all to take for granted "a forever imminent threat" to our collective existence?
We have a choice: To see forward positively with hope, or to lean backwards and wait, with sarcasm in our minds and smug and mindless remarks in our voice.
How wrong is that? To be a people bereft of ideals.
No more Hiroshimas! No more Nagasakis! No more Nuclear Threat!
These are the words the Hibakusha, survivors of nuclear bombings, have been expressing for the past 70-plus years. These are the words of our fathers and our children.
Can one possibly write a readable, meaningful, life-fulling, yet-cynical remark to the contrary?
Simply stated,
Shall we evolve?
Or continue the War to an obvious end?
It's our choice.
11
OMG. I LOVE Obama and what he stands for. I will miss him greatly. The world will miss him too. Thank you for all you have done, President Obama!
23
Obama should simply have stated the truth: The Japanese AND the Americans are guilty of horrifying and disgusting crimes against civilians. No effort should be made on either side to justify these acts and BOTH sides should declare their determination to work toward a more peaceful world.
3
False equivalence.
There's no need to "justify" putting an end to the war Japan started. The American soldiers, sailors, Marines, etc. who got to LIVE, to come HOME, instead of being slaughtered in an invasion of Japan are not "guilty". Read some history.
There's no need to "justify" putting an end to the war Japan started. The American soldiers, sailors, Marines, etc. who got to LIVE, to come HOME, instead of being slaughtered in an invasion of Japan are not "guilty". Read some history.
9
Did President Obama invite Prime Minister Abe to Pearl Harbor for a reciprocal visit?
6
No, but the prime minister visited the World War II memorial in Washington. Or was yours a rhetorical question?
5
Has Abe visited Pearl Harbour? I thought not.
10
The Emperor visited some years ago.
6
I agree with a lot of the angry statements here -- we had every reason to hate the Japanese military and to kill as many as we could. But that next step, of incinerating little kids having their breakfast or on their way to school, I can't believe we took that step.
2
As strange as it may seem, during WW II, the US actually killed far more Japanese civilians with "conventional" fire bombing than with the two atom bombs combined.
3
You must have some very peculiar rose colored glasses, since you think that the continued killing of millions would have been preferable to stopping the war quickly.
6
“We shall not repeat the evil.”
Brilliantly zen, and haiku-like in its brevity. The fact that the cenotaph says "we" in Japan is a hopeful sign that even the conquered recognize their own complicity in the horrific events that befell their two cities in 1945. When both sides can recognize their mutual responsibilities, both can move forward together in peace.
Brilliantly zen, and haiku-like in its brevity. The fact that the cenotaph says "we" in Japan is a hopeful sign that even the conquered recognize their own complicity in the horrific events that befell their two cities in 1945. When both sides can recognize their mutual responsibilities, both can move forward together in peace.
9
“We shall not repeat the evil” should have been the subtext of Obama's speech. Instead, it amounted to: "We're America. Basics of human morality, not to mention the law, do not apply to us. Incinerating cities full of innocent people is what we do."
2
What stunning hypocrisy! The US claims the right to a nuclear first strike, and when Bill Clinton expanded NATO right up to Russia's border, followed up by George W Bush's revocation of the ABM Treaty, the effect was to warn Russia that the US intended to enhance its first strike option.
Obama could have stepped back from the brink, but it was his State Department, which financed the coup in Ukraine; overseen by Hillary Clinton, and made operational by asst Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, which followed upon the anti Putin propaganda campaign waged during the Sochi Olympiad as the preliminary round to set up Americans for the coup.
Obama had no intention to step back from the brink. Instead, along with this New Gilded Age, which was fabricated during his administration, he reignited the Cold War. In this second phase of the politics of the 50's absolutely nothing has changed. America is the enemy of Russia whatever the circumstances of her government, and we shall strike first, because we claim that right...and we can.
Obama is now conspiring with Republicans in Congress to humbug his own party of clueless Democrats to pass TPP, just as did Bill Clinton conspire with Phil Gramm to shaft us by NAFTA during his administration. Nothing ever changes other than the name of the party, which is running the grift.
Obama could have stepped back from the brink, but it was his State Department, which financed the coup in Ukraine; overseen by Hillary Clinton, and made operational by asst Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, which followed upon the anti Putin propaganda campaign waged during the Sochi Olympiad as the preliminary round to set up Americans for the coup.
Obama had no intention to step back from the brink. Instead, along with this New Gilded Age, which was fabricated during his administration, he reignited the Cold War. In this second phase of the politics of the 50's absolutely nothing has changed. America is the enemy of Russia whatever the circumstances of her government, and we shall strike first, because we claim that right...and we can.
Obama is now conspiring with Republicans in Congress to humbug his own party of clueless Democrats to pass TPP, just as did Bill Clinton conspire with Phil Gramm to shaft us by NAFTA during his administration. Nothing ever changes other than the name of the party, which is running the grift.
3
Let's review the Battle of Okinawa.
Okinawa is a small island, around 877 square miles. I grew up there during the 60s and 70s. My grandparents on my mother's side were Okinawans.
The US lost around 12,500 troops killed during the battle, 14 KIA per square mile. The US also had 55,000 wounded, 63 WIA per square mile.
According to US estimates, the Japanese military lost between 80,000 to 110,000 troops KIA, which is 91 to 125 KIA per square mile.
The official US Army estimate for Okinawan civilian casualties is 142,058 killed, amounting to around 47% of the island's estimated population of 300,000. This is 162 civilians killed per square mile.
Japan itself is approximately 146,000 square miles. In 1945, the population was approximately 72,000,000.
If one takes the casualty figures for the Battle of Okinawa and extrapolates them to a fight for the main islands of Japan, you come up with the following figures.
US Military: 2,051,000 KIA/9,198,000 WIA
Japanese Military: Between 13,286,000 and 18,250,000 KIA
Japanese Civilians: 33,840,000 dead
These figures reflect an apocalyptic scale of destruction for Japan. Also, US KIA and WIA would have likely exceeded its existing force levels at the time.
Contrast these figures to the loss of 200,000 killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
As to an apology, let the Japanese sincerely recognize their guilt for the Rape of Nanjing, the Korean and Filipino "Comfort Women", the Bataan Death March, and Unit 731's atrocities.
Okinawa is a small island, around 877 square miles. I grew up there during the 60s and 70s. My grandparents on my mother's side were Okinawans.
The US lost around 12,500 troops killed during the battle, 14 KIA per square mile. The US also had 55,000 wounded, 63 WIA per square mile.
According to US estimates, the Japanese military lost between 80,000 to 110,000 troops KIA, which is 91 to 125 KIA per square mile.
The official US Army estimate for Okinawan civilian casualties is 142,058 killed, amounting to around 47% of the island's estimated population of 300,000. This is 162 civilians killed per square mile.
Japan itself is approximately 146,000 square miles. In 1945, the population was approximately 72,000,000.
If one takes the casualty figures for the Battle of Okinawa and extrapolates them to a fight for the main islands of Japan, you come up with the following figures.
US Military: 2,051,000 KIA/9,198,000 WIA
Japanese Military: Between 13,286,000 and 18,250,000 KIA
Japanese Civilians: 33,840,000 dead
These figures reflect an apocalyptic scale of destruction for Japan. Also, US KIA and WIA would have likely exceeded its existing force levels at the time.
Contrast these figures to the loss of 200,000 killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
As to an apology, let the Japanese sincerely recognize their guilt for the Rape of Nanjing, the Korean and Filipino "Comfort Women", the Bataan Death March, and Unit 731's atrocities.
17
Absent the nuclear bombs, the generals would probably have chosen to blockade the entire perimeter of Japan and starve it to surrender.
4
Such an extrapolation is pointless given the simple fact that the US would have selected a limited number of invasion sites. Hokkaido and northern Honshu would have been ignored, initially. It assumes that Japan was prepared to fight to the end for each square mile of its territory, which the atomic bombings proved to be false.
The US manufactured about 500,000 purple heart medals in anticipation of the invasion. Every Purple Heart given out today in Afghanistan or Iraq was manufactured back then.
The US manufactured about 500,000 purple heart medals in anticipation of the invasion. Every Purple Heart given out today in Afghanistan or Iraq was manufactured back then.
2
Undoubtedly, since the generals would not have wanted their men to pay such a huge price to invade. Unfortunately for them, they would not have been the ultimate decision maker - they would have to defer to the Commander In Chief (Truman).
But which is worse? Millions of Japanese civilians starving to death or 200,000 dead due to the bombing. I say millions given the tenacity of the Japanese leadership in continuing to fight, which I take to mean that it would be a prolonged siege. Pure speculation on my part, though I don't think it's too unreasonable a view.
But which is worse? Millions of Japanese civilians starving to death or 200,000 dead due to the bombing. I say millions given the tenacity of the Japanese leadership in continuing to fight, which I take to mean that it would be a prolonged siege. Pure speculation on my part, though I don't think it's too unreasonable a view.
1
FYI: I gathered reactions to President Obama's trip to Hiroshima, Japan at the end of the month, including some stats, facts, and historic footnotes.
http://www.dailynewsgems.com/2016/05/hiroshima-a-tip-sheet.html
http://www.dailynewsgems.com/2016/05/hiroshima-a-tip-sheet.html
It drives me crazy when the Battle of Saipan is excluded from this discussion. When the Marines took Saipan there was an incident of mass suicide, when people jumped of a high cliff. It was filmed and you can see it on YouTube. Some were following the Samurai code of death before the dishonor of defeat. Others were driven to suicide by Japanese soldiers.
In any case, it showcases how an invasion of the home islands would have been an absolute bloodbath, with schoolchildren issued sharpened poles and brainwashed to die for the emperor. Not just thousands of U.S. troops were spared, Japan itself was spurred. The poor people who suffered from the bomb were what we now refer to as collateral damage, innocent souls trapped between two armies.
.
In any case, it showcases how an invasion of the home islands would have been an absolute bloodbath, with schoolchildren issued sharpened poles and brainwashed to die for the emperor. Not just thousands of U.S. troops were spared, Japan itself was spurred. The poor people who suffered from the bomb were what we now refer to as collateral damage, innocent souls trapped between two armies.
.
17
Thank you. You're right, of course. Those who prefer their own uninformed fantasies to what actually happened could learn a lot from watching The Pacific.
amazon.com/Pacific-Joseph-Mazzello/dp/B001IBIHQ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&...
amazon.com/Pacific-Joseph-Mazzello/dp/B001IBIHQ4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&...
4
Japan had been trying to surrender 7 months before the Hiroshima bombing. The terms were that the Emperor would continue as the holy leader and unconditional surrender. These terms were accepted after the bombing of Nagasaki. President Truman waited until the atomic bomb was ready and then dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman dropped the bombs to intimidate the Russians but the wait also allowed Russia to declare war on Japan. Russia swept in to take Manchuria, China, North Korea and North Viet Nam. General Eisenhower and General MacArthur were against the use of the bombs. Harry S. Truman is a war criminal.
4
I hope no one reading your comment will imagine that you have the slightest clue about what you're claiming.
12
I got a better idea: instead of a "moral revolution," how 'bout you just cancel the trillion-dollar nuke upgrade your administration has championed?
Keep the speeches. Get on with the actions.
'Kthanx.
Keep the speeches. Get on with the actions.
'Kthanx.
4
President Obama told an audience in Hiroshima on Friday that technology often outruns the human ability to manage that progress. If that is true, and I think it is, then why does the world worship science and technology like it is another godforsaken religion? Why do Americans in particular value “science” over the humanities in our nation’s schools when the moral and ethical questions that come with scientific advancement are essential to ask for our way of life, if not our very survival?
Scientific research, engineering and technology have been responsible for the nuclear bomb. It is responsible for the invasion of privacy in the lives of everyone around the world and it is on the brink of making manual labor obsolete.
For all the faith placed in technology as a benefit to mankind, that faith has been misguided for it only focuses on the economic well being of the financial backers who make the scientific advancement possible. The rest of us must bear the risks of unforeseen consequences.
If we were really honest, we would admit that the drawbacks of technological advancement have been on par with the advantages. One thing is certain, though; information technology and labor saving technology have been dehumanizing and degrading to the welfare of mankind. What President Obama says is true but at the rate the millennials are going, it is only a short matter of time before we destroy ourselves.
Scientific research, engineering and technology have been responsible for the nuclear bomb. It is responsible for the invasion of privacy in the lives of everyone around the world and it is on the brink of making manual labor obsolete.
For all the faith placed in technology as a benefit to mankind, that faith has been misguided for it only focuses on the economic well being of the financial backers who make the scientific advancement possible. The rest of us must bear the risks of unforeseen consequences.
If we were really honest, we would admit that the drawbacks of technological advancement have been on par with the advantages. One thing is certain, though; information technology and labor saving technology have been dehumanizing and degrading to the welfare of mankind. What President Obama says is true but at the rate the millennials are going, it is only a short matter of time before we destroy ourselves.
4
Very Luddite-like comments. That same technology you seem to despise has saved countless lives, and allows you to post your thoughts here in real time.
Would you prefer that your car be assembled like the Model T? Would you refuse an MRI that could detect a stage 1 cancer and save your life?
Would you prefer that your car be assembled like the Model T? Would you refuse an MRI that could detect a stage 1 cancer and save your life?
Science rejects the claim that there is merit to believing unsupported propositions. It is the opposite of religion.
Historian Herbert Feis in his book "Japan Subdued" calculated that a contested landing on the beachheads of Japan's home Islands would have cost in excess of 200,000 lives of Allied soldiers, sailors and marines. President made the decision to drop those two bombs in order to bring the Japanese to surrender without further loss of American, Australian, New Zeeland and British lives. that is something to remember as some call for an apology from America. As much as American soldiers, sailors and marines suffered at the hands of the Japanese, it is also important to remember and understand that Chinese, Korean and Philippine persons suffered far worse at the hands of Imperial Japan.
9
Am I the only observer of this spectacle to have noticed that Mr. Obama's "moral revolution" is to spend a trillion dollars "modernizing" the USA's nuclear arsenal, including building smaller and therefore more "usable" nuclear weapons? This is progress -- after 71 years, mind you -- toward a world free of nuclear weapons?
3
Should there be a WW III between the west and a radical Islamic Caliphate, the west will need nuclear weapons to offset the hordes of fundamentalist Muslims.
2
Charles:
The only way to win an asymmetric war with nuclear weapons is to blow up the entire world, in which case everybody loses.
The only way to win an asymmetric war with nuclear weapons is to blow up the entire world, in which case everybody loses.
I witness this act of diplomacy and then I despair when I see the candidates vying to sit in the Oval Office next year.
12
Thanks - my thoughts exactly.
4
Not Mark...
While it is wonderful President Obama made this visit and, in his speech, conveyed the lessons learned from these horrific nuclear bombings, and the work yet to be done to disarm and de-nuclearize the world, he should have apologized. That would have shown great courage and moral leadership.
It does not matter what the Japanese did to the Chinese or vice versa, America eviscerated and evaporated 200,000 lives for 2000 lost at Pearl Harbor. After September 11 terrorist attacks that killed over 3000 lives America plunged into warfare that is yet to end, and has cost over 100,000 civilian lives. There is no moral equivalency to this. You are either a good fair Christian nation, or you are not. I am sorry to say America is not, and never was. Maybe America needs to try to be a decent secular democracy
And nuclear disarmament has not been at the top of President Obama's agenda, though he was given the Nobel Prize for Peace in his first term.
America's war industry has to stop, and the military has to serve the people for defense, not revenge, not corporations, not oil industries or the elites.
Long long way to go for the US.
And yes I cried when I saw that 91 year old man, who lost everything in the bombings, hug President Obama and forgive. May he live another hundred years in good health or as happy helpful spirit.
While it is wonderful President Obama made this visit and, in his speech, conveyed the lessons learned from these horrific nuclear bombings, and the work yet to be done to disarm and de-nuclearize the world, he should have apologized. That would have shown great courage and moral leadership.
It does not matter what the Japanese did to the Chinese or vice versa, America eviscerated and evaporated 200,000 lives for 2000 lost at Pearl Harbor. After September 11 terrorist attacks that killed over 3000 lives America plunged into warfare that is yet to end, and has cost over 100,000 civilian lives. There is no moral equivalency to this. You are either a good fair Christian nation, or you are not. I am sorry to say America is not, and never was. Maybe America needs to try to be a decent secular democracy
And nuclear disarmament has not been at the top of President Obama's agenda, though he was given the Nobel Prize for Peace in his first term.
America's war industry has to stop, and the military has to serve the people for defense, not revenge, not corporations, not oil industries or the elites.
Long long way to go for the US.
And yes I cried when I saw that 91 year old man, who lost everything in the bombings, hug President Obama and forgive. May he live another hundred years in good health or as happy helpful spirit.
2
Dear Pastor Barry,
Some may feel that all morals, like all politics, are local. Given that, and just to be consistent and authentic in your call for a 'moral revolution' -- why don't you start with condemning the blatant corruption at home in the U.S. before hectoring in Japan for 'revolution'. Physician heal thyself! Your lack of leadership is apparent when it comes to stopping HRC from stealing the Dem nomination all the way to ignoring the will of the American people to stop the TPP... you've been AWOL...
Some may feel that all morals, like all politics, are local. Given that, and just to be consistent and authentic in your call for a 'moral revolution' -- why don't you start with condemning the blatant corruption at home in the U.S. before hectoring in Japan for 'revolution'. Physician heal thyself! Your lack of leadership is apparent when it comes to stopping HRC from stealing the Dem nomination all the way to ignoring the will of the American people to stop the TPP... you've been AWOL...
1
The comments by VMG are spot on and to the point. Thank you for refreshing any clouded memories of what ultimately led to the two bombings in Japan. History is often mis-remembered.
4
It is important to remember that 130,000+ (according to wikipedia) civilians lost their lives, mostly innocent individuals that had no say in their death. Not soldiers, but non-combatants. This is not to trivialize the war crimes and atrocities committed by the Japanese Empire, on the contrary those acts must never be forgotten or minimized, or worse, politicized as the way it is now. However, the American govt/military chose two major urban populations for destruction. In my mind, no amount of military rationalization (we saved more lives by forcing a purportedly early surrender) can justify the vaporizing of 130000 souls in an instant. I think that is something Americans have difficulty understanding, since we have been raised from youth to understand the destruction of Hiroshima as an act of grace and mercy, instead of the breathtaking annihilation of innocent lives that it was. We as a nation are directly responsible for an atrocity that we feel no culpability, let alone remorse, for. It would do us all good to remember what happened, and to think deeply about such an act, instead of couching it in easy moral justifications deemed necessary by times of war.
7
Generals LeMay and Groves wanted to collect data comparing the effects of uranium and plutonium bombs on previously un-bombed cities.
Generals must be obliged in wars.
Generals must be obliged in wars.
2
"In my mind, . . ."
You should read some history. Replace the fantasy that's in your mind with what actually happened, and what would have happened if the U. S. had not put an end to the war Japan started.
Your platitudes about what "would do us all good" are uninformed, fatuous, and insulting.
You should read some history. Replace the fantasy that's in your mind with what actually happened, and what would have happened if the U. S. had not put an end to the war Japan started.
Your platitudes about what "would do us all good" are uninformed, fatuous, and insulting.
14
My point is not whether the bombing was justified by casualty counts, whether the Japanese were going to surrender early or not, by this or that hypothetical situation. Rather we as a nation collectively see the bombing and destruction of two cities as an uncritically righteous action, with little moral, or even ethical consequences to burden us with. These are not platitudes, but a call for serious self-inquiry and introspection.
2
I wonder if Obama is going to embrace some Battan death march survivors.
11
My thoughts exactly.
It is distressing to see that the Japanese protestors demanding an apology are younger people who have no memory, and whose parents would have no memory, of the war. By demanding an apology, they suggest the bombing was wrong and, by extension, Japan's ruthless quest for domination of the Pacific region and horrible treatment of non-Japanese people was justifiable?
There is a corollary in this country. As the tragic event moves further into the past, more Americans polled say it was wrong to drop the atomic bomb. In the latest poll, a majority of Americans think it was wrong. These responses should elicit follow-up questions such as:
How many people had been killed in WWII BEFORE the bomb was dropped? (over 60 million)
How many American soldiers were killed in WWII? (over 290,000)
How many more American soldiers would have been killed in a land invasion of Japan? (estimated between 23,000 and millions)
Would you have been willing to serve and die in that war?
When I took American History in school, the school year was almost over by the time we reached World War II, and we spent only a few days on a war that saw the most American combat deaths in this country's history. That war must still be receiving short shrift in our schools, And, sadly, too many Americans make no effort to learn anything on which they will not be tested.
And what are the young Japanese being taught in their schools?
There is a corollary in this country. As the tragic event moves further into the past, more Americans polled say it was wrong to drop the atomic bomb. In the latest poll, a majority of Americans think it was wrong. These responses should elicit follow-up questions such as:
How many people had been killed in WWII BEFORE the bomb was dropped? (over 60 million)
How many American soldiers were killed in WWII? (over 290,000)
How many more American soldiers would have been killed in a land invasion of Japan? (estimated between 23,000 and millions)
Would you have been willing to serve and die in that war?
When I took American History in school, the school year was almost over by the time we reached World War II, and we spent only a few days on a war that saw the most American combat deaths in this country's history. That war must still be receiving short shrift in our schools, And, sadly, too many Americans make no effort to learn anything on which they will not be tested.
And what are the young Japanese being taught in their schools?
11
How about coverage of America's genocide in Indochina, that left 3-5 million dead and 3 countries destroyed? Coverage of this vast crime against humanity is scant to nonexistent in our schools.
Further, your conclusion that condemning America's barbaric use of the atomic bombs somehow justifies Japan's shameful behavior during the war is illogical.
Further, your conclusion that condemning America's barbaric use of the atomic bombs somehow justifies Japan's shameful behavior during the war is illogical.
And some of these young people turn into trolls of defending Japan in a digital age. Cut and paste historical documents and create a propaganda to sell their version of history. The world should be hawkish about these young people. Do not allow full militarization of Japan, please.
3
"When I took American History in school, the school year was almost over by the time we reached World War II, and we spent only a few days on a war that saw the most American combat deaths in this country's history. "
When my daughter was in high school back in 1992, WW II was covered in only one day with most of the time being devoted to a showing of the movie Midway.
When my daughter was in high school back in 1992, WW II was covered in only one day with most of the time being devoted to a showing of the movie Midway.
2
I am so going to miss this President. He brought honor, dignity, and a special kind of humility to the job and to the world. Thank you President Obama.
21
In mending relations with Japan and Cuba this year, President Obama has proved he most certainly was a worthy Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
18
Hiroshima could have been bombed to oblivion by conventional weapons. So, the idea of the atom bomb was to make the enemy surrender immediately - ending the war. It worked. Surely the Japanese leadership realized that an atom bomb could have been used on Tokyo. Whether the second bomb on Nagasaki was necessary to get the Japanese to surrender, I doubt it. The U.S. military could have shown the Japanese the next bomb and warned that another city was soon going up in smoke.
2
I have seen estimates that the Japanese Army killed more people with bayonets and summari swords than the US did with atom bombs.
2
@Trumpit,
Before we dropped either of the bombs we dropped leaflets on the cities warning the people of a weapon like no other.
Before we dropped either of the bombs we dropped leaflets on the cities warning the people of a weapon like no other.
1
If nothing else, it seemed to make those elderly gentleman, who were little boys when the bomb was dropped and were in no way complicit in Japan's actions in World War II, feel better. It was the right thing to do.
7
Horrendous crimes.
Peace for the souls
Peace for the souls
3
During WWII, millions of Chinese innocent including thousands of Children were killed by Japanese Amy. Without the two bombs, more Chinese and US soldiers would have died. Till today, Japan still has not apologized to China. It is a tragedy, however it was necessary and helped to end the war. I wish bombs were dropped sooner.
I have no objection for Obama's visiting Hiroshima. Should he pay a visit to Chinese WWII museum in Nanjing to pay the respect of those Chinese soldiers and civilians who were allies of US during WWII
I have no objection for Obama's visiting Hiroshima. Should he pay a visit to Chinese WWII museum in Nanjing to pay the respect of those Chinese soldiers and civilians who were allies of US during WWII
8
Important event and good summary. However, the statement that many historians think the two bombs saved lives is increasingly disputed, especially the Nagasaki bomb. Either way, that kind of reasoning opens the door to justify any atrocity.
Here is an op-ed piece you ran last year, offering a reconsideration of the Nagasaki bombing. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/opinion/nagasaki-the-forgotten-city.ht...®ion=opinion-c-col-top-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-top-region
Here is an op-ed piece you ran last year, offering a reconsideration of the Nagasaki bombing. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/opinion/nagasaki-the-forgotten-city.ht...®ion=opinion-c-col-top-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-top-region
2
I don't recall ever reading about one Prime Minister from Japan who stepped foot on American soil, offering apologies for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. If anyone was ever "deserving" of an apology, I would think it would be to the American men and women who perished on that fateful day as well as their relatives who still mourn their loss.
8
Nobody has mentioned apologies EXCEPT YOU.
4
No, but their 'God-emperor' Akihito did...in March of 2009. Considering that it was his father, Hirohito, that presided over Imperial Japan during the war, it counts at least as much as the head of a government that came into being AFTER the end of the war.
4
Obama has never eaten Thanksgiving dinner overseas with our troops. This year is his last opportunity as President to do so. We should start a petition to force him to do so, but he will ignore it since he doesn't like to be reminded that he is not the antiwar savior his image-handlers try to portray him as.
6
'Thanksgiving'? Really? That's the event that brings out enough passion for a petition drive from you, and makes the difference in your judgement about his credibility and reputation as our president? Different strokes for different folks, I guess...
10
@Citixen
Important strokes for those who have served. Not so much for others...
Important strokes for those who have served. Not so much for others...
2
I have never been to Hiroshima but I have visited Mt St. Helen to know whether it is either a manmade or nature of enormous power that can cause unimaginable destructions and human sufferings. It does not discriminate a friend or foe as long as you happen to be in its path of destruction. As much as innocent Japanese (Korean and prisoners of war) lost their lives, the same innocent lives were lost in the lands of Korea, China, Southeast Asia and Pearl Harbor. I do not know what will take for the Japanese government to offer an official apology for the WWII in Asia (and Pearl Harbor in America) that some people still point out that there has not been offered one. What is an apology with a language it says they are sorry but not legally responsible for it in the past?
5
It is easy to offer apologies when never having witnessed nor been engaged in a conflict. After the bombings and surrender by Japan, U.S. servicemen quickly began rebuilding Japan. For anyone who may have forgotten history, it was Japan that attacked the U.S. on December 7, 1941, claiming over 2400 lives which ultimately led to the two bombings which ended WWII.
I grossly hate war and all that results because of it. But the U.S. was not the villain. Perspective needs to be remembered on all sides of this issue.
18
Oh, I remember the history. All of it, including our isolationism and indifference to the rise of Fascism in Europe, even as guys like Charles Lindbergh strutted around this country whomping up hatred for Jews and praisng Hitler, and we let democratic Spain go hang. I even remember that we threw a hundred those Japanese-descent citizens into desert camps and grabbed their property, while giving the German-American Bund and all the German-descent citizens who actually DID something wrong a free pass.
When we remember, let's remember all.
When we remember, let's remember all.
8
Reading? Comprehension? No apology was offered.
7
You are absolutely correct Robert! History MUST be remembered completely and honestly. And at the end of the day, very few are totally innocent. Thank you for sharing your views. I apologize if my comments offended you.
3
Obama spoke soothing words at Hiroshima, and thankfully did not apologize for the necessity of the bombing. However, being Obama, he could not forbear from a somewhat tepid apology for our nuclear arsenal, without even a mention of its vital purpose. May it put it poetically (with apologies to John Lennon):
Imagine no nuclear weapons
I wonder if you can
A world without North Korea,
or the Republic of Iran.
A pacific Vladimir Putin,
a quiescent Pakistan.
Just imagine the impossible.
and and the perfectability of man.
Imagine no nuclear weapons
I wonder if you can
A world without North Korea,
or the Republic of Iran.
A pacific Vladimir Putin,
a quiescent Pakistan.
Just imagine the impossible.
and and the perfectability of man.
Of course his point was that we needed to remove th conditions that make such weapons necessary, but you go right ahead.
One would have hoped that among the points of Memorial Day was that, perhaps, we might try approaching things in a little more generous of a spirit. Certainly, we might try setting some of the hate and snark aside, and facing reality honestly.
One would have hoped that among the points of Memorial Day was that, perhaps, we might try approaching things in a little more generous of a spirit. Certainly, we might try setting some of the hate and snark aside, and facing reality honestly.
I think that President Obama finally earned the Nobel Prize with this speech. Even though in practice he hasn't been able to enact all the values that he wanted, his heart and mind should be an inspiration for the future president of the USA and for leaders around the world.
13
The dropping of the atomic bomb on the civilians of Hisroshima in early August was not to preclude an invasion, which could not have happened until November, but rather to terrorize the Japanese into surrendering before the Soviet Union was fully engaged against Japan. Even more so the unnecessary deployment of the bomb against Nagasaki a mere 3 days later and on precisely the day the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The bombs were dropped over the population centers of the cities, not at military targets, and were detonated at an altitude to kill the greatest number of people, mostly women and children. That mankind felt forced to develop such weapons was a tragedy. We today cannot fully engage the reality of that tragedy, then and now, until we acknowledge the full range of motivations that led to the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and fully engaging the reality of that tragedy is essential to destroying once and forever every last nuclear weapon in existence. I was born in 1942 and have lived through this era. I served in the United States Air Force and was part of the process that could authorize the deployment of small-scale nuclear weapons. I am very concerned at the complacency surrounding the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. Why in God's name do these weapons continue to exist? Don't people understand that the deployment of these weapons will kill tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions? I am very concerned.
9
Then stay in and work for our country to stay strong. Because war is a zero sum game. You don't want to lose one.
2
Maybe not apologize but never too late to ask for forgiveness. Never know who you'll be sitting next to in the next world. That's what I see in the embrace.
1
The Nation had an article in Aug 2015 The War Was Won Before Hiroshima—And the Generals Who Dropped the Bomb Knew It
Seventy years after the bombing, will Americans face the brutal truth?
By Gar Alperovitz
August 6, 2015 http://www.thenation.com/article/why-the-us-really-bombed-hiroshima/?utm... It states-- quotes generals and admirals and Eisenhower. We had already won the war with japan and all the Generals and Admirals knew it. They were against the dropping of this bomb. It was future world dominance and our concerns about Russia that probably caused us to drop the bomb. Not Victory over Japan
Seventy years after the bombing, will Americans face the brutal truth?
By Gar Alperovitz
August 6, 2015 http://www.thenation.com/article/why-the-us-really-bombed-hiroshima/?utm... It states-- quotes generals and admirals and Eisenhower. We had already won the war with japan and all the Generals and Admirals knew it. They were against the dropping of this bomb. It was future world dominance and our concerns about Russia that probably caused us to drop the bomb. Not Victory over Japan
4
They were not against the dropping of this bomb until after it dropped (none of the quotes from the military people come from before the bomb was dropped) and they didn't have to deliver on their beliefs that blockade and strategic conventional bombing would've worked. Eisenhower never commanded against the Japanese and wasn't privy to the intel estimates against the Japanese.
Regardless of whether our military people thought we had the war won, the Japanese didn't know they were beaten.
Regardless of whether our military people thought we had the war won, the Japanese didn't know they were beaten.
7
The United States is still (fortunately) the only country to use an atomic weapon in war. The only country to be so cruel as to kill all those civilians. By the time we dropped that bomb Japan was finished from the fire bombing of Tokyo and other in country attacks. I am ashamed that we did that and we do need to apologize for this vicious and unnecessary action. The people who lived suffered horrible wounds lasting their whole lives were not combat soldiers. For years we were told that if we had not dropped the bomb thousands of American soldiers would have died in an invasion but that turned out to be a PR lie.
2
This was not an apology or a sign of weakness or a slap in the face to the American military. This was a compassionate, healing act that deserves a bow of gratitude.
19
Dear Obama,
Japanese wants ‘apologies’, where as you offer them ‘condolences’. In this last year of your presidency what is that you are afraid of? Your legacy or your party? Don’t you think it would be humble of you to say ‘sorry’ on behalf of United States, while your ‘sorry’ of course will not bring a single dead soul back nor erase the Horrors of Hiroshima from the memory of humanity. (Your neighbor Justin Trudeau, just few days ago delivered an apology for the the Komagata Maru incident which happened a hundred years ago.) You said "the bombing of the city showed that “mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.” What a gimmick of words to justify and hide the horror US had created !! Yes, mankind ‘is' capable of destroying themselves, but, hello, remember you are standing on the ruins of Hiroshima and the world is expecting you talk about who destroyed it and what they possess. Trump said, “we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq and that’s what created ISIS’. Like him at least for the 'sake of talk' you could have offered what ‘US’ did. Oh, ok ok I got it, I got it. mankind means America, and America is the only mankind !! got it. P.s. My 'like' for you has turned down today.
Japanese wants ‘apologies’, where as you offer them ‘condolences’. In this last year of your presidency what is that you are afraid of? Your legacy or your party? Don’t you think it would be humble of you to say ‘sorry’ on behalf of United States, while your ‘sorry’ of course will not bring a single dead soul back nor erase the Horrors of Hiroshima from the memory of humanity. (Your neighbor Justin Trudeau, just few days ago delivered an apology for the the Komagata Maru incident which happened a hundred years ago.) You said "the bombing of the city showed that “mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.” What a gimmick of words to justify and hide the horror US had created !! Yes, mankind ‘is' capable of destroying themselves, but, hello, remember you are standing on the ruins of Hiroshima and the world is expecting you talk about who destroyed it and what they possess. Trump said, “we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq and that’s what created ISIS’. Like him at least for the 'sake of talk' you could have offered what ‘US’ did. Oh, ok ok I got it, I got it. mankind means America, and America is the only mankind !! got it. P.s. My 'like' for you has turned down today.
2
In which we find that peaceniks can act every bit as shabbily as warmongers.
2
The earth is flat and the sun moves around Japan. You play a victim card when it is convenient for you and you deny of any responsibities of the war that you started, raided the natural resources, killed millions, raped women, etc. A civilized thing for Japan to do is to apologize first to its victims before asking for an apology.
6
@ JP - we are not discussing kids play to say - you first broke my toy, so you should say sorry first. We are talking about a Nuclear Holocaust and over a hundred thousand deaths. Yes, Japan has to do the same for its victims. But what's wrong if United States take the first step and set an example? Perhaps that would be too idealistic to ask, ha? Obama once quoted Gandhi "“Throughout my life, .. I’ve always found inspiration in the life of Gandhi and his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world.” Note the words - "to be the change we seek in the world." Is that he said from his white house scrap book or really he has guts to do what he quotes !! Our apologies must come from our hearts, from the deep acceptance of what wrong we have done to others. If we can do that, no matter what Japan has done or not done, it will stir a deep revolution in the collective consciousness of America and it may one day lead us to treat each other with Love.
Thank heaven for this very fine President. We will miss him. My heart goes out to the Hiroshima survivors, and I'll always wish that we could have dropped the bomb in the Pacific, to demonstrate its power to the Japanese. This does not mean that we excuse Japan's actions--any of them--in World War II. However, Hiroshima and Nagasaki could have been spared, because the bomb's devastating potential if seen from the ocean would be obvious. I am grateful to President Obama for going to Hiroshima and offering comfort and such a fine speech.
11
What a moronic statement. Apparently you weren't paying attention is school during history class, or God knows, maybe your left wing teacher didn't teach the subject matter, but the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed far fewer people than would have died had the war continued. Japan was being carpet bombed by the allies with incendiaries creating massive fire storms. Had this continued, the entire country would have been laid to waste. More importantly, dropping these two bombs saved the lives of at least a million allied soldiers and civilians and at least ten times that number of Japanese soldiers and civilians who were already poised to fight to their deaths. I don't embrace those that attempt to rewrite history, the facts will do nicely - thank you. At the end of the day, remember this. The United States didn't start the war. It was that Japanese that wantonly hilled millions of Chinese and Koreans long before the United States became involved. Your present (not mine) Obama, is an appeaser. just like Neville Chamberlain, former prime minister of Great Britain, who tried to appease Hitler. That appeasement and the isolationist attitude of the United States led to our involvement in World War II. Wake up people before it's over for good.
3
A diplomatic gesture, but a very worthy one.
9
Now that Congress is on break - Obama should go ahead and sneak in his Supreme Court nominee via "recess appointment". Not sure why he wouldn't do it at this point.
6
Yes, indeed, Ron C., I'm sure that was first and foremost in the minds of everyone who watched the president today in Hiroshima--how do we just get Merrick Garland onto the Supreme Court by the end of the day?
5
Because they've figured out several ways to be in session when they're not in town, and there is a specific Supreme Court decision on the matter.
Oh, and because this isn't the article's topic, though unfortunately it is a sign that some are lost lost in their own private Idahos that they cannot appreciate (or, it would seem, so much stand to perceive) a small, good thing when they see it.
Oh, and because this isn't the article's topic, though unfortunately it is a sign that some are lost lost in their own private Idahos that they cannot appreciate (or, it would seem, so much stand to perceive) a small, good thing when they see it.
3
Off topic and inane, to boot...
2
The Japanese did very well killing civilians, soldiers and anyone else who got in their way. By all accounts around 17 million died from their hand. I served with
A man who survived the Bataan death march, he was a broken man. The Japanese are the war criminals who in my opinion got off easy.
A man who survived the Bataan death march, he was a broken man. The Japanese are the war criminals who in my opinion got off easy.
14
The figure is too low. More like 50 million. The Japanese buried people alive, and now they bury their history.
10
Japan suffered at least 2.1 million military dead, and around 800, 000 civilians dead.
By the end of the War, two of their cities had been nuked; Tokyo and Kyoto had been firebombed flat. Their industries were gone; the country was starving.
Yeah, certainly, they earned it.
If MacArthur and George Marshall could put aside their anger and hatred and their losses, and act like men to forgive (though not to forget) and rebuild, it seems to me that we could too.
By the end of the War, two of their cities had been nuked; Tokyo and Kyoto had been firebombed flat. Their industries were gone; the country was starving.
Yeah, certainly, they earned it.
If MacArthur and George Marshall could put aside their anger and hatred and their losses, and act like men to forgive (though not to forget) and rebuild, it seems to me that we could too.
1
Yes, it is a bit ironic that Japan is a victim of US retaliation for the war they started and received a financial and economic assistance from the US. However, the victims of Japanese war atrocity, what did they get from Japan? Apparently the Japan has not even made an official apology. There was an apology saying they were sorry for the war but chose a language that 'sorry' with no legal responsibilities. How can after killing 17 million people and no official apology for its conduct? Not too long ago there was an article appeared on NYT regarding 'comfort women' which was met with vehement deniers of such incidents. Just deny that it did not happen so that no apology is needed, perhaps. It took 70 years to receive compensation (not sure money has been exchanged and distributed) for comfort women. It is about time that the world demands an official apology from Japan.
4
The United States / Allied forces saved the world. When you save the world, you don't issue apologies.
8
@Colin - What is your point, exactly? There was no apology, that was not the intent from the beginning.
10
He simply wanted to snipe the same snipe as always at this President, which is of course the decent response to the President's laying a wreath for the dead on Memorial Day weekend.
1
How ironic. Obama just came from Vietnam where he decided to sell more weapons of war. The article states that the visit was a reward for increased Japanese militarization. Please refer to the WWE editorial to make sense of it all.
2
@Conley - Weapons for defense -- from China and/or North Korea -- are not "weapons for war", but a guard against war.
8
Lotusflower, Thank you for clarification. Peace via power to destroy, that does sound a bit familiar though. Rather NRAish don't you think? And exactly how has that worked out for us?
1
Ah, Lotusflower, you are to be commended, for you have mastered the art of doublespeak. Weapons only become "weapons for war" when the drums begin to beat assembly... Until then the machines of death are not weapons at all... How quaint. I wonder why I never heard that in the Marine Corps...
1
At least for Nagasaki-Hiroshima, there was a provocation at Pearl Harbor. So, no apology. fine.
But what the US did in Vietnam -- carpet bombing, Agent Orange... ... -- is unconscionable and unforgivable, even if the US has the moral courage to apologize, which it will not. -- Kollengode S Venklataraman
But what the US did in Vietnam -- carpet bombing, Agent Orange... ... -- is unconscionable and unforgivable, even if the US has the moral courage to apologize, which it will not. -- Kollengode S Venklataraman
We will need Japan as an ally in the next Pacific War. It may be sooner than we think.
5
The March 9, 1945 fire-bombing of Tokyo was the single deadliest air raid of all time. More than 100,000 died and a million were injured. The "strategic target' of the bombing were working-class, civilian neighborhoods using jellied gasoline to cause a firestorm that overwhelmed Tokyo's fire response. But for the use of nuclear weapons, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not "special".
The Hiroshima peace park for most of its history has been a symbol of post-war Japan's pacifism. It was a reminder of the bitter fruits of militarism and imperialism. That is up until Abe decided to rewrite Japan's brutal mid-century history. Apology or not, the President's visit is a thank-you to Abe's saber-rattling, and with a $1 trillion plan to upgrade our nuclear arsenal, his remarks are an exercise in rank hypocrisy.
Would that the President hugged a survivor of Stalingrad; or maybe a Korean 'comfort woman'; or maybe a Chinese survivor of one of Japan's 'medical experiments'.
The Hiroshima peace park for most of its history has been a symbol of post-war Japan's pacifism. It was a reminder of the bitter fruits of militarism and imperialism. That is up until Abe decided to rewrite Japan's brutal mid-century history. Apology or not, the President's visit is a thank-you to Abe's saber-rattling, and with a $1 trillion plan to upgrade our nuclear arsenal, his remarks are an exercise in rank hypocrisy.
Would that the President hugged a survivor of Stalingrad; or maybe a Korean 'comfort woman'; or maybe a Chinese survivor of one of Japan's 'medical experiments'.
6
The civilians the man hugged were not the people who started that war. And one may forgive without forgetting. And seeing your family, friends, and home incinerated isn't leavened by the sufferings of others.
By the way--wasn't Nagasaki home to the largest Christian community in Japan at the time?
By the way--wasn't Nagasaki home to the largest Christian community in Japan at the time?
3
As he was only a small child in 45', the gentleman in this heartwarming photo was not personally responsible for the war. His people, however, very much were. They sowed the wind and reaped the whirl-wind. Unlike Germany, Japan has historically skirted her collective culpability for the war. The President's actions, a cynical political sop on behalf of a strong regional ally, serves no other purpose than to reinforce Abe's fiction that somehow the Japanese were "victims". They weren't. It is precisely this historical amnesia that makes this photo possible. I cannot imagine any American President participating in a like event or embracing an aging victim of the allied bombings over Germany.
1
This from the Nobel Peace Prize winner under whose government the rate of
decommissioning of nukes is slower than that of any of the three previous administrations', and who has proposed that $1 trillion be spent over the next 30 years to upgrade US nuclear capabilities and introduce tactical nuclear weapons? Hypocrisy writ large.
decommissioning of nukes is slower than that of any of the three previous administrations', and who has proposed that $1 trillion be spent over the next 30 years to upgrade US nuclear capabilities and introduce tactical nuclear weapons? Hypocrisy writ large.
6
Well done. It's about time we acknowledge what happened long, long ago. Thank you Mr. President.
15
I thank President Obama for showing, once again, grace and dignity as he treads a delicate line. Not apologizing, but delivering a quiet, contemplative and articulate speech about creating a peaceful world without nuclear weapons. After seven decades he acknowledged the existence of the pain experienced by the Japanese people while at the same time blaming the Japanese government's "base instinct for domination" for that outcome. The president's words were both compassionate and clear-sighted, subtle, intelligent and aspirational. I am grateful for a president who shows my son, in action and word an alternative to the shouting, name-calling, finger-wagging and xenophobia that currently dominates our public arena.
President Obama has again set an example for how our now-flat world will move forward. Working together with an understanding that we are irrevocably interconnected by a fragile planet and a world economy. May we do as good a job electing our next leader.
President Obama has again set an example for how our now-flat world will move forward. Working together with an understanding that we are irrevocably interconnected by a fragile planet and a world economy. May we do as good a job electing our next leader.
34
We didn't ask for this war. It was brought to our doorstep at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese wanted Asia for themselves and murdered millions of people to achieve that goal, but we had to finish what they had started with Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As victors under General MacArthur, we have shown the Japanese people that we are humble in victory. We didn't prosecute their emperor for crimes against humanity and helped them rebuild their country. We are by no means perfect and have our share of foreign policy mistakes most recently in the Middle East. At Hiroshima, Mr. Obama has just reminded the world why most countries at the end of the day would prefer to be our friends and not China's or Russia's. The visit wouldn't be controversial if the Prime Minister of Japan had honored our war dead at Pearl Harbor or those from countries they had invaded. It takes a lot guts to do what our president did.
7
To further his Moral Revolution, President Obama could extend his farewell tour with a stopover in Nanking, a brief visit to the sovereign nation of Pakistan, pay his respects to the entombed sailors on the Oklahoma in his home state of Hawaii, and finish off this Memorial Weekend with a solemn visit to the Unknowns at Arlington. Or not.
4
Once war begins, the main reason it continues is so the already-dead didn't die in vain.
5
Of course:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/30/politics/obama-pearl-harbor/
And of course the President was at the Tomb and at Arlington on Nov. 11, 2015.
One would have hoped that among the things we'd have learned from laying a wreath at Hiroshima is that it is unwise to let our hatred blind us to reality.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/30/politics/obama-pearl-harbor/
And of course the President was at the Tomb and at Arlington on Nov. 11, 2015.
One would have hoped that among the things we'd have learned from laying a wreath at Hiroshima is that it is unwise to let our hatred blind us to reality.
2
I respect president Obama's decision to visit the cenotaph and the survivors. The bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki did change the world from multiple perspectives and opened a new era of nuclear weapons. However, I don't think president Obama needs to apologize for anything; it was a hard decision for president Truman and this decision might have saved many lives. I do hope that other leaders would be insipired by president Obama. As a Chinese citizen, what happened in Nanjing and the 300,000 who were butchered with cruelty are unforgettable. And what committed by unit 731 deserves an official reply from Japan. Anyway, it's great to see nations come together after severe enmities. Pray for the dead and the survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the peace we have now.
6
Death fell from the sky on December 7, 1941.
I don't recall major Japanese figures visiting Pearl Harbor, Bataan, Corregidor, or Nanjing. Unit 731.
I've met men who survived the Japanese prison camps.
Had President Truman not dropped those bombs a million casualties on the allied side would have occurred.
General Lemay would have incinerated those not starved to dealt.
And all the allied prisoners would have been murdered.
The A bombings were cause for celebration here, and rightfully so.
I don't recall major Japanese figures visiting Pearl Harbor, Bataan, Corregidor, or Nanjing. Unit 731.
I've met men who survived the Japanese prison camps.
Had President Truman not dropped those bombs a million casualties on the allied side would have occurred.
General Lemay would have incinerated those not starved to dealt.
And all the allied prisoners would have been murdered.
The A bombings were cause for celebration here, and rightfully so.
6
Let me recommend one of the great American stories of patriotism: Theodore Sturgeon, "Thunder and Roses."
An historical note: There's been a lot of references this week to the fact that President Obama is the first U.S. president to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum while in office. What hasn't been mentioned is that he is only the second head of state from one of the 11 nuclear powers (U.S., Russia, Ukraine, China, U.K., France, India, Pakistan, South Africa, Israel and North Korea) to visit Hiroshima while in office. The first was Kocheril Raman Narayanan, President of India, on December 6, 1995. President Obama is the first head of government from a nuclear power, i.e, the person with his finger on the button, to visit Hiroshima while in office. The presidents of South Africa and Ukraine visited Hiroshima after their countries had already disposed of their nuclear arsenals. It would be a great idea if every person who took on this responsibility would take the time to visit Hiroshima and see first-hand the power at their fingertips.
3
This summit started in Ise shrine where Showa empire HIrohito pray for victory for the WWII just after Perl Harbor, ended in Hiroshima. It is clear Japanese PM Abe tracing the Pacific war.
Mr. Abe expressed his perverted love for the U.S. and showed an eternal obedience by this trip which remind Mr. Obama that Japan is still defeated nation even now and forever.
Mr. Abe expressed his perverted love for the U.S. and showed an eternal obedience by this trip which remind Mr. Obama that Japan is still defeated nation even now and forever.
2
During his visit to Hiroshima, President Obama uttered a few hackneyed platitudes about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, and hugged a survivor of the attack. Having approved a large-scale modernization—better to call it lethalization—of the U.S. nuclear arsenal this may sound like hypocrisy, but it served the purpose of his trip to Japan: making the revival of Japanese militarism, an essential part of a Japanese-American anti-China alliance, more palatable to the still pacifistic Japanese public.
It is ironic that this is being done by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, especially considering that the United States is treaty-bound to support Japan in the event of an incident involving China, and that this could easily lead to a nuclear war, this time with global consequences unimaginably greater that Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. It's a pity we have forgotten President Washington's admonition that we should strive for “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
It is ironic that this is being done by a Nobel Peace Prize winner, especially considering that the United States is treaty-bound to support Japan in the event of an incident involving China, and that this could easily lead to a nuclear war, this time with global consequences unimaginably greater that Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. It's a pity we have forgotten President Washington's admonition that we should strive for “peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
2
As JFK said, Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.
6
In the end, the bombing was probably justified, but barely. However, one particularly sad and borderline criminal detail of the bombing was that there was absolutely no warning. By that time in the war, American planes had complete rule of the sky and routinely sent small numbers of weather and reconnaissance aircraft over Japan on a daily basis. The Japanese populace had learned to ignore them as they did not pose a threat. The U.S. knew this. (Rhodes 1986) So when they saw three planes slowly crossing way up in the sky that morning, no one took cover and the loss of life was far more than it needed to be for us to prove our point. I've always found this to be the most troubling aspect of what we did since it could have been avoided by dropping some conventional bombs first which would have sent the populace into their shelters. I ask all the armchair warriors to please spare me their comments on how Japan started the war, blah, blah blah - I don't think there is much justification in bombing kindergarteners on their way to school without warning.
3
You must not have heard of the Potsdam Declaration. It is wrong to suggest that there was no warning.
5
I knew there would be at least one person that mentioned the Potsdam Declaration. In fact, I realized that after I submitted the post and would have changed my comment to include a request not to include it as a childish argument. A general warning issued months before does not absolve us of bombing a defenseless city without any practical warning. Did you really expect the Japanese to evacuate millions of people and if they didn't all responsibility was all on them?
The Potsdam Declaration was made 7/26/45. Hiroshima was bombed 8/6/45 -- that's 11 days, not "months before."
"Prompt and utter destruction" was promised if the terms were not met.
The fact remains that the Japanese were warned, took no action, were bombed, took no action, and only surrendered after being bombed yet again.
"Prompt and utter destruction" was promised if the terms were not met.
The fact remains that the Japanese were warned, took no action, were bombed, took no action, and only surrendered after being bombed yet again.
2
"Leaders in both China and South Korea worry that Mr. Obama’s visit to Japan’s deepest wound could be taken by the Japanese as an endpoint to their country’s fitful efforts to come to grips with their own wartime atrocities."
an alternative view is that if the US recognizes the damage that it inflicted during the war, then maybe japan could too.
it's also important to try to come to grips with the fact that even after japan was defeated, wartime atrocities continued in china and started again on the korean peninsula. the enemy is us, which i think was the basic message of mr. obama's visit.
an alternative view is that if the US recognizes the damage that it inflicted during the war, then maybe japan could too.
it's also important to try to come to grips with the fact that even after japan was defeated, wartime atrocities continued in china and started again on the korean peninsula. the enemy is us, which i think was the basic message of mr. obama's visit.
Mr. President, a question: how many World Wars have we had in the past 71 years? None, you say?
People like to deny it, but nuclear weapons have been a public health success on par with clean drinking water and immunization.
My grandfather was wounded in action in the Battle of the Bulge. He had recovered enough to where he surely would have been one of the many privates stuffed into amphibious assault vehicles for the Battle of Honshu.
I and many of you out there are probably alive today because of Truman's decision to use this weapon against a truly deserving foe.
The country that levies total war must bear total risk for its own destruction. No apology, now or ever.
People like to deny it, but nuclear weapons have been a public health success on par with clean drinking water and immunization.
My grandfather was wounded in action in the Battle of the Bulge. He had recovered enough to where he surely would have been one of the many privates stuffed into amphibious assault vehicles for the Battle of Honshu.
I and many of you out there are probably alive today because of Truman's decision to use this weapon against a truly deserving foe.
The country that levies total war must bear total risk for its own destruction. No apology, now or ever.
6
At Pearl Harbor memorial, people ask where our president is. Oh, he's in Japan, apologizing for us winning WWII.
5
@bern - Another person who didn't bother to read the article. There was no apology, and the administration made it clear before the visit that an apology would not be made.
6
Those people get an F in reading and comprehension, no apology was not offered.
2
His presence was an apology. Actions speak louder than words.
As has been for 8 years of anti-U.S. veteran policies and rhetoric, we get to wake up and see our president bowing to a place in a time whereas approximately 111,000 US soldiers died in the pacific theater, 21,000 where taken prisoner and most starved and or tortured. China lost 4 million people to Japan during WW2 and unspeakable acts where perpetrated by the Japanese. How much more of a disgrace can Obama be in the next 6 months.... And we are considering another Democratic, as the middle class is choked out of existence....
5
@Cousin Eddie - It's clear you didn't read the article to understand what this visit was actually about.
4
How I wish there could be a third term, and with a receptive legislature to boot. A moral revolution. This is a rare and special president.
9
The number one and major first step in a "Moral Revolution" would be the worldwide elimination of all nuclear weapons. It is utter madness that we possess enough nuclear weapons to destroy the our world many times over. If these weapons are not eliminated sooner or later they will be put to use. We are living on borrowed time.
3
Ok. Nice photo-op. Now how about canceling the $1trillion program to "modernize" our nuclear arsenal. When I see that happen, then I will be a believer. Anything short of that is legacy puffery and sheer hypocrisy.
4
@Rob B - Sure, just as soon as Russia, North Korea and China get rid of theirs. It is precisely because these other countries are upgrading their delivery capabilities that the US is also following suit. Or do you have some sort of magic shield that will protect the country?
6
Um, we currently have 4,700 warheads. The idea is to move toward disarmament, not to create new weapons that may be considered "useable".
Once again, the world becomes unhinged about something President Obama is doing, or not doing. At the end of the day, are we such an angry species, are we so tribal, so warlike and mistrusting that we simply refuse to collectively acknowledge that trying to reduce the possibility of the use of nuclear weapons by anyone is the right thing to do for humankind? Are we really doomed by our own violent, emotional nature? I - for one - refuse to accept that verdict. Who's with me?
5
President of a flawed country with a flawed history, world leader of a very flawed species, Barack Hussein Obama is a classy guy. By this act alone, he is worthy of his Nobel Peace Prize.
10
"I don't care what the facts are. I will never apologise for ANYTHING America does!"
That was George Bush Sr's response to America's downing of an Iranian airbus and the murder of all 284 passengers aboard, (though it could well stand as a general statement of intent for all US atrocities, whether accidental, like the shooting down of the passenger jet, or intentional, as in the case of America's two atomic bombings).
I have a question for those insisting the US should not apologize for the destruction of two civilian cities with atomic bombs. Is there anything the US should issue an official apology for? The destruction of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and the murder of millions of people? The death-squad horrors perpetrated across Latin America, with tens of thousands tortured and disappeared? The invasion and destruction of Iraq, which turned the region over to ISIS?
My guess is that those who think America should steadfastly refuse to apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki believe—along with Bush—that the US on principle should never apologize for anything it does, no matter how ruthless, barbaric, unnecessary or criminal.
That was George Bush Sr's response to America's downing of an Iranian airbus and the murder of all 284 passengers aboard, (though it could well stand as a general statement of intent for all US atrocities, whether accidental, like the shooting down of the passenger jet, or intentional, as in the case of America's two atomic bombings).
I have a question for those insisting the US should not apologize for the destruction of two civilian cities with atomic bombs. Is there anything the US should issue an official apology for? The destruction of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and the murder of millions of people? The death-squad horrors perpetrated across Latin America, with tens of thousands tortured and disappeared? The invasion and destruction of Iraq, which turned the region over to ISIS?
My guess is that those who think America should steadfastly refuse to apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki believe—along with Bush—that the US on principle should never apologize for anything it does, no matter how ruthless, barbaric, unnecessary or criminal.
4
@Voice - Actually, there was no apology, there was never going to be. Both sides know full well the conditions in WWII that evoked the bombing. That wasn't the intent of the visit.
3
Actually, Bush apologized. On the occasion of our paying reparations for the colossal screwup.
By avoiding my question, you answered it.
Will Obama visit the Chinese Memorial for the Nanking Massacre and lay a wreath there? Will Abe?
3
@SKC - Again, why should a US president get involved? This is Japan's issue, not ours. If you feel so strongly about it, send an email to Abe.
3
Sage words from the man who just authorized the sale of weapons to Vietnam.
Can you spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e?
Can you spell h-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e?
4
@Tacitus - Can you spell uninformed? The weapons are for defense.
4
Barack Obama should have taken this opportunity to speak the truth. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved lives - both Japanese and American. In 1945, Japan had mobilized its entire population to actively resist the impending US invasion. Civilians were being trained for suicide attacks. Japanese boys and girls were being taught in school how to disable American tanks by diving under the tank treads clutching a landmine. The Japanese military and government were prepared to sacrifice 25 million of their own civilians to certain death, all in the name of Honor and the Emperor.
I may feel a bit more sympathy for Japan's suffering during the war if the Japanese government paid nearly as much attention to the suffering caused by the Japanese military when it raped and murdered millions of civilians throughout Asia. Instead, the Japanese people choose to engage in a decades-long episode of collective naval-gazing when it comes to acknowledging their own role in mankind's most destructive conflict.
Obama missed a golden opportunity to tell the Japanese people the truth and to take them to task for their own hollow, moral judgments. I can't help but wonder, when will Prime Minister Abe be visiting Nanjing... or be laying a wreath at the Pearl Harbor Memorial?
I may feel a bit more sympathy for Japan's suffering during the war if the Japanese government paid nearly as much attention to the suffering caused by the Japanese military when it raped and murdered millions of civilians throughout Asia. Instead, the Japanese people choose to engage in a decades-long episode of collective naval-gazing when it comes to acknowledging their own role in mankind's most destructive conflict.
Obama missed a golden opportunity to tell the Japanese people the truth and to take them to task for their own hollow, moral judgments. I can't help but wonder, when will Prime Minister Abe be visiting Nanjing... or be laying a wreath at the Pearl Harbor Memorial?
8
Maybe when the Prime Minister comes here next, he can chew us out about throwing tens of thousands of innocent citizens into camps, and seizing their property.
1
Will Obama talk to the survivors of the "comfort women" and express his whatever? If so he better hurry up as there are few left.
3
@SKC - That makes absolutely no sense. That is up to Japan's leaders, not ours.
3
I have been to the Hiroshima Peace Park. I disagree with the author. There was very clear information about Japsnese atrocities during the war, written in English. One leaves feeling wars are a human problem, not a national problem.
7
How pretentious!
This from the Nobel Peace Prize winner, awarded before he did anything peaceful, and who since has prosecuted, with more zeal than Bush, the current endless war in the Middle East.
He believes his own rhetoric.
The Atlantic recently ran a personality profile of Trump.
We need one on the conformist current President.
Think for yourself?
This from the Nobel Peace Prize winner, awarded before he did anything peaceful, and who since has prosecuted, with more zeal than Bush, the current endless war in the Middle East.
He believes his own rhetoric.
The Atlantic recently ran a personality profile of Trump.
We need one on the conformist current President.
Think for yourself?
3
The gestures made by President Obama to the people of Japan, the United States, and the world, and the words he spoke, which were perfect, are vital to the world moving forward toward peace, reconciliation, and understanding. That there are hateful, angry, and delusional words hurled at the President on these message boards for his actions shows only more the need for them. I am proud to lend my voice in support of the President on this day, a day I have hoped to see for a long time, a day when an American President brought emotional support to a city that suffered unfathomable trauma even before his time.
7
Good on him. This was an issue easy to duck but President Obama took it on. Requires courage and a strong moral fiber.
10
Perhaps it would have been morally 'better' to end the war, to bring our Japanese enemies to their knees and eventual surrender by fire-bombing into complete destruction and oblivion their major cities. The fire-bombing would have been followed-up with conventional bombing and fighter aircraft strafing, naval artillery bombardment, invasion by 100's of thousands of US troops, followed up with small arms machine gun and rifle fire, flame-throwers, mortars, grenades and the bayonetting of human beings.
Such an unpleasant course would have resulted in MUCH more loss of life on both sides, estimated to be a million+ or so Japanese fatalities and at a minimum a couple of hundred thousand or more American fatalities.
I wonder what people do not get about the decision that was made to deploy the most effective and humane weapon available to our forces, thus ending the war against the Imperial Japanese?!
Such an unpleasant course would have resulted in MUCH more loss of life on both sides, estimated to be a million+ or so Japanese fatalities and at a minimum a couple of hundred thousand or more American fatalities.
I wonder what people do not get about the decision that was made to deploy the most effective and humane weapon available to our forces, thus ending the war against the Imperial Japanese?!
4
I just finished reading the comments section for a reason mostly unrelated to the comments. Two observations: I wish I could reclaim the time somehow, so many preconceived notions butting heads with one another.
The second observation: One thing I learned a long time ago is that apologies are vastly overrated. Especially, the kind that begin "if anyone is offended". What matters is what you do, not what you say.
The second observation: One thing I learned a long time ago is that apologies are vastly overrated. Especially, the kind that begin "if anyone is offended". What matters is what you do, not what you say.
I am proud of President Obama.
His statesmanship in Japan exemplified grace and courage.
He bowed in honor to the Japanese and the World for the atrocities that we committed.
Politics aside, I will always remember Mr.Obama for his brilliance and for his integrity.
His statesmanship in Japan exemplified grace and courage.
He bowed in honor to the Japanese and the World for the atrocities that we committed.
Politics aside, I will always remember Mr.Obama for his brilliance and for his integrity.
7
No apology there. He knows like we all do, that the victims there were victims of their own imperial aggressions coming back on themselves.
Right?
Right.
You know, it did take TWO bombs to get them to quit...
Right?
Right.
You know, it did take TWO bombs to get them to quit...
2
To be honest, the survivors of the bombing do deserve an apology. No civilians should ever be deliberately subjected to indiscriminate carnage on the scale of a nuclear weapon. But the apology should not have come from President Obama. It should have come from the man standing next to him. Shinzo Abe is the grandson of an Imperial Fascist, and has made clear through a career's worth of word, deed and character the depth of his revisionist intent. In short, he unapologetically embodies the philosophical, cultural and even genetic bloodline of the Japanese Imperial Elite. If Tojo was Japan's Bismarck, Abe is her Goering.
The Japanese People went through hell in 1945. Let us remember who led the way, and who has been quietly clearing the trail again.
The Japanese People went through hell in 1945. Let us remember who led the way, and who has been quietly clearing the trail again.
4
What a contrast of character. Obama represents humanity's best character at the temple of remembrance to its worst impulses while Trump runs around the country calling people 4th grade derogatory nicknames. When Cartman from South Park is more highbrow than a candidate for president you realize how far we have fallen.
6
Oh my God, reading some of the comments here is enough to make one despair for the future of humanity. Obama didn't apologize! Read the speech! He spoke against war and all the horrors it brings, and he called on HUMANITY, as a whole, to prevent that kind of catastrophic destruction from happening again. It's not about who started this particular war, or who committed the greatest atrocities, or who sacrificed the most, or who deserves the most credit for the good lives we enjoy today. It's about mourning for all the millions who lost their lives in the most horrible war the world has ever seen. Look at what this meant to the hibakusha who met Obama and tell me the war was somehow their fault, that they don't deserve the closure they finally got after 71 years.
To those saying this is a stab in the back to our veterans, do you really think they'd want us to hold onto hate after all these years? What good does that do? To those saying he should be in Arlington mourning the American war dead, he has been! Many times! To those saying he's a civilian who doesn't understand the horrors of war, why do you think we have civilians in charge of the military? What if Truman had given MacArthur free rein to drop nukes on the Chinese to win the Korean War?
Finally, if you still can't bring yourself to feel compassion for the Japanese casualties of the war, maybe you should visit Hiroshima and see firsthand what the bomb did.
To those saying this is a stab in the back to our veterans, do you really think they'd want us to hold onto hate after all these years? What good does that do? To those saying he should be in Arlington mourning the American war dead, he has been! Many times! To those saying he's a civilian who doesn't understand the horrors of war, why do you think we have civilians in charge of the military? What if Truman had given MacArthur free rein to drop nukes on the Chinese to win the Korean War?
Finally, if you still can't bring yourself to feel compassion for the Japanese casualties of the war, maybe you should visit Hiroshima and see firsthand what the bomb did.
11
I believe this was long overdue. Now it's japan's turn to make amends publicly to the Chinese for the hundreds of thousands that were Murdered during the occupation and ethic cleansing of Asia. Next to the Arizona memorial. We have led the way to peace by admitting our atrocities, it time for Japan do same. Until then this means nothing
2
They won't. They don't even admit that they started the war.
4
Yeah, me too; where was everyone the final week of October 1962? Certainly the Cuban missile crisis was a call for public introspection.
in a very brief moment of make-belief,
would it be possible to retain Mr. Obama as our President?
a sort-of theatrical-repeat of Hollywood's Groundhog Day...
this man will, indeed, be missed...
to be long-celebrated in the pantheon where a select few of his predecessors will greet him:
Lincoln, Washington and FDR.
godspeed, sir.
6
Trump could not have made this argument. Not in Trump. Let us hope Trump grows in people skills and consideration of others. Empathy.
1
Prepare for WW II vets - Trump followers all, no doubt - to be in an uproar about this gesture on Obama's part.
That said, The Bomb likely saved my father's life - he was on a troop ship bound for the Philippines, and from there to the shores of Japan - and thus insured mine.
Draw your own conclusions.
Red O. Greene, Albuquerque, NM, USA
That said, The Bomb likely saved my father's life - he was on a troop ship bound for the Philippines, and from there to the shores of Japan - and thus insured mine.
Draw your own conclusions.
Red O. Greene, Albuquerque, NM, USA
6
Hats off to the President for displaying the courage and grace to face our past and bring closure.
Those peoples who demand an apology year after year and those who won’t give one are stuck in the past—allowing anger, hate, moral justification to surface each time the past events are mentioned. They pass all that negative energy to the next generations, depriving them of a chance to live in peace. History has shown time and again that one group of peoples has no moral problem inflicting atrocities on another. If we go back far enough, everyone owes everyone an apology.
It's time to move beyond, "Your father did this to my father so I’ll never forgive you,” and “Your father did this to my father so I was right to strike back.”
Speaking as one whose family has lived through two wars, I am not interested in revisiting the wrongs done to my people and telling my children how much our people hate "those evil neighbors." They don't need to grow up with that legacy. One hundred years is a short time span and I'd rather have them focus on living a full life and doing their part to make the world a better place, instead of spending their energy on seeking justice and revenge.
We live in a connected world where our actions can affect the entire planet. It is important that we focus on the present, and try to get along. We don't have to like or love our neighbors. If we could just co-exist with common courtesy, that would be a small peaceful effort.
Those peoples who demand an apology year after year and those who won’t give one are stuck in the past—allowing anger, hate, moral justification to surface each time the past events are mentioned. They pass all that negative energy to the next generations, depriving them of a chance to live in peace. History has shown time and again that one group of peoples has no moral problem inflicting atrocities on another. If we go back far enough, everyone owes everyone an apology.
It's time to move beyond, "Your father did this to my father so I’ll never forgive you,” and “Your father did this to my father so I was right to strike back.”
Speaking as one whose family has lived through two wars, I am not interested in revisiting the wrongs done to my people and telling my children how much our people hate "those evil neighbors." They don't need to grow up with that legacy. One hundred years is a short time span and I'd rather have them focus on living a full life and doing their part to make the world a better place, instead of spending their energy on seeking justice and revenge.
We live in a connected world where our actions can affect the entire planet. It is important that we focus on the present, and try to get along. We don't have to like or love our neighbors. If we could just co-exist with common courtesy, that would be a small peaceful effort.
6
The President should be commended for having the courage and the skill to balance what seemed for decades to be mutually exclusive: respect for those who gave their lives to an Allied victory, and respect to those who lost their lives in the destruction of Imperial Japan in horrific fashion and would pay and pay for decades to come.
It gives us great discomfort, but it can be true that the use of the atomic bomb was both right and wrong. Not nuanced. Not existing in "shades of grey." Both at once.
Right insofar as viewed from the lens of wartime America and Imperial Japan, it was a brutal, tireless war, full of atrocities, with more atrocities overwhelmingly likely to come. The atomic bomb ended the war everywhere. For Japan, it was an real existential threat that pushed a proud, fearsome, resolute people to their knees. There would be no last stands. There would be no underground resistance. There would be a new society, of which the Japanese people are and should be proud.
And yet it was also wrong. Wrong as all total war is wrong. Wrong because the weapon itself was as cruel as it was deadly. Wrong because the fear it engendered and psychological scarring left on Japan, the United States, and everywhere in between persists.
The President and Prime Minister Abe cannot resolve all the rights and wrongs of the world's worst war, but they can and did remind us of why we must not allow ourselves to sink collectively where "necessary evils" thrive.
It gives us great discomfort, but it can be true that the use of the atomic bomb was both right and wrong. Not nuanced. Not existing in "shades of grey." Both at once.
Right insofar as viewed from the lens of wartime America and Imperial Japan, it was a brutal, tireless war, full of atrocities, with more atrocities overwhelmingly likely to come. The atomic bomb ended the war everywhere. For Japan, it was an real existential threat that pushed a proud, fearsome, resolute people to their knees. There would be no last stands. There would be no underground resistance. There would be a new society, of which the Japanese people are and should be proud.
And yet it was also wrong. Wrong as all total war is wrong. Wrong because the weapon itself was as cruel as it was deadly. Wrong because the fear it engendered and psychological scarring left on Japan, the United States, and everywhere in between persists.
The President and Prime Minister Abe cannot resolve all the rights and wrongs of the world's worst war, but they can and did remind us of why we must not allow ourselves to sink collectively where "necessary evils" thrive.
6
I am so proud of our twice-elected President Obama. A gracious thing to do for world peace.
10
Barack Obama has been a war president longer than any US President in American History. The most gracious thing Obama can do for world peace would be to resign.
5
DCBarrister:
I'm sure that based on most of your comments, you voted for George Bush, who inflicted on the world the travesty that is now going on in the Middle East. Obama has been dealing with THAT fallout for 8 years, no thanks to YOUR bad choice in 2000.
I'm sure that based on most of your comments, you voted for George Bush, who inflicted on the world the travesty that is now going on in the Middle East. Obama has been dealing with THAT fallout for 8 years, no thanks to YOUR bad choice in 2000.
7
Sorry Slim, the blame Bush card expired in 2009. You're going to need a valid form of payment for those excuses.
1
heartfelt thanks to the Times for offering video and print coverage of this historic event. It is not available on television--even C-Span. For those who choose to relitigate the use of the bomb, please try to pivot from that pointless exercise and consider the lethality of today's nuclear weapons. Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership and compassion.
9
The Vietnam war was unnecessary and shameful. World War II was necessary its outcome an enormous blessing. If we look at the wars going on now in the world, we a lot of the former and few of the latter. The President's trip has eloquently demonstrated that, although we eventually recover from all wars, and enemies often become friends, we all need to remember the horror and question the cost of past wars before setting foot in future ones.
2
Ashes are Ashes.
It doesn't matter if you were incinerated at Hiroshima, in a burning ship at Pearl Harbor; an oven at Auschwitz, a flat in Dresden; a M113 armored fighting vehicle, a hut in the Mekong Delta - the result is the same.
We need to teach the 18 year old boys (and girls) of every nation to just say: "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself". What a public service advertisement that would be!
It doesn't matter if you were incinerated at Hiroshima, in a burning ship at Pearl Harbor; an oven at Auschwitz, a flat in Dresden; a M113 armored fighting vehicle, a hut in the Mekong Delta - the result is the same.
We need to teach the 18 year old boys (and girls) of every nation to just say: "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself". What a public service advertisement that would be!
132
I totally agree Peter Zenger, and it is a sad statement that I am only the 2nd person to recommend your excellent commentary.
It is truly ironic that those who started the Iraq war never saw combat. Amazing GW Bush was part of the Texas National Guard but not one single soul could remember him. Cheney, Wolfowitz all got deferments. Amazingly they conned Colin Powell, the reluctant warrior, to sell the Iraq invasion.
It is truly ironic that those who started the Iraq war never saw combat. Amazing GW Bush was part of the Texas National Guard but not one single soul could remember him. Cheney, Wolfowitz all got deferments. Amazingly they conned Colin Powell, the reluctant warrior, to sell the Iraq invasion.
5
Jews, gays, gypsies, and other undesirables being slaughtered in Germany? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Retribution executions of civilian populations in continental Europe after being conquered by the same folks doing the killing in the concentration camps? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Bombing of civilians in London? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Men being enslaved solely because of the color of their skin? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Not every war is justified. I think you and I will certainly agree on at least that point. But sometimes (and I'm quoting), the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing.
On Monday, we remember those sacrifices.
Retribution executions of civilian populations in continental Europe after being conquered by the same folks doing the killing in the concentration camps? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Bombing of civilians in London? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Men being enslaved solely because of the color of their skin? "uh, No Thanks - why don't you do it yourself".
Not every war is justified. I think you and I will certainly agree on at least that point. But sometimes (and I'm quoting), the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men (and women) to do nothing.
On Monday, we remember those sacrifices.
3
This is the best comment I have seen, really ever.
A " moral revolution" must start by Japan acknowledging its responsibility for their agreessive and repulsive behavior in China, Korea, and indeed throughout east and Southeast Asia; their legal, financial and moral responsibility for the use of "comfort women"; and their willingness to apologize to and to compensate the victims. Until then it's all empty words from Obama.
I don't even agree with Obama laying a wreath on their "memorial" unless that "memorial" has the words "this is an example for those who started a war" inscribed in it. As to the so-called victims of the bombing, given the frenzy the general population in Japan during the war, I will call them victims only if they disagreed with their government's policies then. Will Abe come to Pearl Harbor and laid a wreath on our memorial? He already said he will not. So where is the "moral", let alone "revolution"!
Does any one in the US doubt that had Japan had the bomb first they would not haved used it on us, or anyone else?
I don't even agree with Obama laying a wreath on their "memorial" unless that "memorial" has the words "this is an example for those who started a war" inscribed in it. As to the so-called victims of the bombing, given the frenzy the general population in Japan during the war, I will call them victims only if they disagreed with their government's policies then. Will Abe come to Pearl Harbor and laid a wreath on our memorial? He already said he will not. So where is the "moral", let alone "revolution"!
Does any one in the US doubt that had Japan had the bomb first they would not haved used it on us, or anyone else?
6
Say what you like about him being too "professorial" or not a "back slapper," but when it comes to making you proud about your President and your country, Mr. Obama hits it out of the park. In an age when we hope that our candidates will become presidential, it's nice to know we have a leader who has been that way for a long time.
7
I am so very proud of President Obama. While President Obama did not offer an apology to Japan, he did offer heartfelt sympathy for this unique tragedy of war. To those who state there should never be an apology, I ask why? The most terrifying act of war that has ever been committed on those two Japanese cities, was committed by our country, and it resulted in untold human misery and untold loss of life. It may have ended the war, but it was at a far reaching tragic cost, and we cannot know the road not taken, we only can surmise.
President Obama has restored dignity to the Presidency, that was sorely lacking. A lesser man could not have tolerated what this President has had to endure, and still accomplish all he has for this country, from healthcare insurance availability, to a treaty with Iran, to the reestablishment of ties with Cuba. I will sorely miss him. God help us if Trump is elected President of this country. God help us.
President Obama has restored dignity to the Presidency, that was sorely lacking. A lesser man could not have tolerated what this President has had to endure, and still accomplish all he has for this country, from healthcare insurance availability, to a treaty with Iran, to the reestablishment of ties with Cuba. I will sorely miss him. God help us if Trump is elected President of this country. God help us.
6
What an abject hypocrite this President is!
Ramps up production of nuclear weapons and has the temerity to talk about a "moral revolution." Who does he think he's kidding???
And why no visit to Nagasaki? Apparently, the roughly 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki who were either vaporized instantly or died horribly from radiation soon after (to say nothing of the untold thousands of cancer deaths over generations) don't merit mention.
Shame on you, President Obama!
Ramps up production of nuclear weapons and has the temerity to talk about a "moral revolution." Who does he think he's kidding???
And why no visit to Nagasaki? Apparently, the roughly 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki who were either vaporized instantly or died horribly from radiation soon after (to say nothing of the untold thousands of cancer deaths over generations) don't merit mention.
Shame on you, President Obama!
4
The way that most people are destroying others is through overpopulation which causes most females to be unable to reign in and parent those she has brought into the world. Then, you add the obesity epidemic, gun violence, death through pain killers and alcohol, we ignorantly and indifferently know how to first destroy ourselves, our mind and body, and then, those around us because of our actions. Those actions above are far more likely than nuclear war to destroy us. Even Hiroshima deaths pale in comparison to what has been going on the last five years in Syria, or how about Iraq, and Afghanistan, or need we go on around the world.
1
"Obama Issues Call for ‘Moral Revolution’"
US domestic and foreign policy is objectively complex and rife with intertwining and competing objectives, risks and uncertain outcomes. I'm not an Obama critic generally, but on seeing the "Forever war" pursued outside US borders, the Nobel peace prize winner seems to make a striking and exemplary illustration of the saying "do what I say, not what I do".
US domestic and foreign policy is objectively complex and rife with intertwining and competing objectives, risks and uncertain outcomes. I'm not an Obama critic generally, but on seeing the "Forever war" pursued outside US borders, the Nobel peace prize winner seems to make a striking and exemplary illustration of the saying "do what I say, not what I do".
2
At the time japan deserved that bomb and many more for what they did.if they had it they would of used it as well so who are they trying to kid.they attacked us without warning.look ar all those sailors and civillians that were killed.remember the uss indianapolis torpedoed and all those men eaten by sharks.they are lucky we didnt occupy japan and put the country under our rule except general mc arthur wanted to rebuild japan and make peace with them.
3
Mr. President:
thank you, sir, for your dignified and honest participation at the Hiroshima Memorial.
i will miss your service when January 21, 2017, arrives.
and for many, many days thereafter.
CHEERS !!
6
Thank you Mr. President for your kindness, humility, and courage. I will miss your brilliance when you leave office. From going to Japan and opening up Cuba, you have set the standard for greatness.
10
I was glad to see our President honor and recognize the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is time to remember the outrages of war in the hope that we do not repeat the outrageous useless wars that scar humans. No one wins a war, we are left with victors and victims, and lots of shame to touch those of us who were alive on this earth when the atom-bombs were dropped. Yes, shame! We all play a role. My own Dad at nineteen was shot down over the Bataan Peninsula and was lost in the jungles naked and afraid until found by jungle natives who had never seen westerners before. He fought the Japanese side-by-side with them, was captured, endured the Bataan Death March and 4 tortured years in a Japanese Slave Labor camp leased by the Mitsibushi Corporation. He survived but this useless squandering war left it's dreadful mark. Last week I heard one of Mrs. Clinton's aides equate her petty frustration with some campaign glitch as her suffering "like the Bataan Death".
Please everyone: NEVER disrespect those who fought and died in ugly war by careless stupid remarks. All my Dad ever wished for was for the Japanese Government to seek his forgiveness, to say "SORRY" to him. To date The Japanese have not done so. Now USAF Lt. Col. "Siggy" Schreiner is buried at Arlington with his dear buds. President Obama is both caring and correct to make this long over due journey and comfort all of us who remember. Perhaps Japan might like to makes those welcome amends to "the guys" now? It's time.
Please everyone: NEVER disrespect those who fought and died in ugly war by careless stupid remarks. All my Dad ever wished for was for the Japanese Government to seek his forgiveness, to say "SORRY" to him. To date The Japanese have not done so. Now USAF Lt. Col. "Siggy" Schreiner is buried at Arlington with his dear buds. President Obama is both caring and correct to make this long over due journey and comfort all of us who remember. Perhaps Japan might like to makes those welcome amends to "the guys" now? It's time.
3
Obama's silent actions speak volumes... about his humanity, respect for people of the wold, and simple human decency. At times like this, I'm awed by his example and proud he's our president.
Sad that so many (constantly jabbering but, in reality, with little or nothing to 'say') are deaf to his simple, but profound message.
Sad that so many (constantly jabbering but, in reality, with little or nothing to 'say') are deaf to his simple, but profound message.
12
Did some of you even read the article?
Obama didn't apologize.
He didn't intend to apologize and before HE apologized there would have to be an apology from the Japanese for Pearl Harbor, Nanking, Korean comfort women and thousands of wartime atrocities.
He said we have the capacity to destroy ourselves, and we need to make sure we have the morality to overcome our technological evils.
So who doesn't agree with that, and who thinks war should be the first option when conflicts occur?
I think some of you wouldn't be happy until we've bombed every Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, Indian, etc into oblivion.
Obama didn't apologize.
He didn't intend to apologize and before HE apologized there would have to be an apology from the Japanese for Pearl Harbor, Nanking, Korean comfort women and thousands of wartime atrocities.
He said we have the capacity to destroy ourselves, and we need to make sure we have the morality to overcome our technological evils.
So who doesn't agree with that, and who thinks war should be the first option when conflicts occur?
I think some of you wouldn't be happy until we've bombed every Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, Indian, etc into oblivion.
9
This is a true demonstration of grace and aplomb and it is the province of a politician with a highly sophisticated intellect.
We have been fortunate to have had him as our president We need a very different set of candidates in 2016 as I cant imagine either of them being able to comport themselves like Obama.
We have been fortunate to have had him as our president We need a very different set of candidates in 2016 as I cant imagine either of them being able to comport themselves like Obama.
9
114 million Americans who gave up on finding jobs during the Obama presidency don't feel fortunate.
9 in 10 Black youth under the age of 21 who are unemployed in large urban areas during the Obama Era aren't wowed by Obama's sophisticated intellect.
The 200,000 Syrians Obama told he had their backs who were massacred by Assad aren't charmed and wooed by Barack.
The list goes on and on...
9 in 10 Black youth under the age of 21 who are unemployed in large urban areas during the Obama Era aren't wowed by Obama's sophisticated intellect.
The 200,000 Syrians Obama told he had their backs who were massacred by Assad aren't charmed and wooed by Barack.
The list goes on and on...
3
I would have agreed with Obama if Abe is the pacifist president of Japan but he is not. Instead Abe is the nationalistic revisionist that talks about peace and re-militarization in the same sentence.
If we follow Abe's example, then Abe should apologize to all Asian nations and go to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall when he attends the G20 meeting in China later this year.
If we follow Abe's example, then Abe should apologize to all Asian nations and go to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall when he attends the G20 meeting in China later this year.
8
By asking for a moral revolution, Obama implied that our nation acted immorally by dropping the bomb. I haven't seen the Japanese Prime Minister honoring our fallen soldiers and sailors. The Japanese started that war as well as committing many atrocities that they ignored or publicly addressed for decades. I guess Obama is trying to build on his weakened legacy. It's all he's got left. I'm totally embarrassed and personally hurt by his actions since I lost relatives in that Pacific war. Yes, there were many innocent Japanese people killed. However, it saved the lives of many of our soldiers and sailors.
5
I've never seen so many people who twist themselves into pretzels to turn an act of common human decency in to an apology. There was no apology, real or implied.
4
The bomb didn't save American lives, it cost American lives, in particular, all the Americans (and Japanese) killed during the months Truman was waiting for the bomb to be completed and tested, when he could have offered the very terms the Japanese finally surrendered under, which allowed them to retain the Emperor.
2
I think American leaders are possibly the most hypocritical people in the world. In the past 16 years we have sold and/or supplied hundreds of billions of dollars worth of arms and ammunition to war-mongers in the world. We continue to build our nuclear weapons and yet we have the nerve to go on world-stage and say "technology needs a moral revolution"
My one question to the leaders of the western world including USA - If you were to reallocate the trillions of dollars spent on weapons to developing industry and infrastructure and thereby create jobs in the poor countries do you think we would have the mass refugee problems we are seeing today? Would we be seeing the rise of fundamentalist islam if those dollars had been spent on giving education to the poorer sections so that they would not have had to go to Madrasas to learn?
My one question to the leaders of the western world including USA - If you were to reallocate the trillions of dollars spent on weapons to developing industry and infrastructure and thereby create jobs in the poor countries do you think we would have the mass refugee problems we are seeing today? Would we be seeing the rise of fundamentalist islam if those dollars had been spent on giving education to the poorer sections so that they would not have had to go to Madrasas to learn?
4
If all fathers stopped at two the future would look much brighter.
4
Would we be seeing the rise of fundamentalist islam if those dollars had been spent on giving education to the poorer sections so that they would not have had to go to Madrasas to learn? Ask the crumbs that are running the moslem lands.
1
@Steve Bolger
Some ought to stop at none...
Some ought to stop at none...
2
I am so proud of President Obama and of the USA today.
9
I believe that even a lot of Japanese understand that Hiroshima helped end the war and in the long run probably saved countless lives. But why was a second bomb dropped 3 days later in Nagasaki? Wasn't one atomic bomb enough of a "message" that would have ended the war? The second was essentially a live experiment to see the difference between a uranium and plutonium bomb conducted by the US military. Obama should not apologize for Hiroshima, but he should apologize for Nagasaki that killed an additional 80,000 people.
That is wrong. The Japanese Emperor and his war cabinet learned nothing from first bomb. They were still willing to sacrifice more civilians in the name of glory.
4
The Emperor capitulated AFTER Nagasaki, not AFTER Hiroshima. If the Emperor had not capitulated after the second bomb, the Allies would have conducted a massive invasion of Japan that would have resulted in the deaths of millions of people. The carnage would have been unimaginable. And, Japan would have become a vassal state under Chinese and Soviet influence.
5
Typo above. Should read "no need to apologize..."
To me this has nothing to do with the second world war. It has everything to do with outstanding statesmanship. Yes, I wish Mr. Obama could serve a third term.
10
As do I.
4
So I Guess we won't be sending those weapons to Vietnam or Saudi Arabia. A moral revolution sounds nice but as usual I will wait to see what President Obama does to move that revolution forward. My guess is nothing.
5
This was the right thing for the President to do. It took tremendous courage for a sitting US president simply to go to Hiroshima. Still, the horror of what took place there should have elicited an apology. But I understand the reasons why he did not do so, and respect his decision. We must do everything we can to work toward a nuclear free world. This visit to Hiroshima by President Obama, while largely symbolic, should be seen as a wish or aspiration for a distant but possible goal.
5
Sadako Sasaki was 2 when the atomic bomb detonated near her home. Sadako was hospitalized age 10 with acute leukemia. She believed she would live if she made 1,000 origami cranes. Sadako died age 12. She completed 644. Her friends finished Sadako's project and she was buried with the 1,000 craned,Ppaper cranes are the Hiroshima symbol of peace. Sadako would be 73 if she had survived. A statue of Sadako is at the Peace Museum. A thousand cranes beautifully folded to honor peace. Feel free to fold a crane and send to the Children's Peace Monument.
http://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/shimin/heiwa/crane.html
http://www.city.hiroshima.lg.jp/shimin/heiwa/crane.html
3
Anyone read the report from Federation of American Scientists yesterday that found the reduction of nuclear weapons slowed under Obama and last year Obama dismantled the smallest number of warheads since taking office even though SoS John Kerry told international arms controllers in April 2015 that “President Obama has decided that the United States will seek to accelerate the dismantlement of retired nuclear warheads by 20 percent.”
The report states Obama has reduced the size of the nation’s nuclear stockpile at a far slower rate than did any of his three immediate predecessors and the $1 trillion nuke update program "anything but modest" compares with Obama's modest nuke reduction program.
The report states Obama has reduced the size of the nation’s nuclear stockpile at a far slower rate than did any of his three immediate predecessors and the $1 trillion nuke update program "anything but modest" compares with Obama's modest nuke reduction program.
2
yes...
I'd like to see the Japanese Emperor and PM embrace the WW II survivors from Pearl Harbor, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, etc! Sometime in war the only war to end the conflict is with a knock-out bloow and remember that it took two atomic bombs being dropped before the Imperia;l Japanese government considered surrendering. Woukd the Imperial Japanese or Nazi Germans have hesitated for even a moment to use the same weapon of destryuction against thier enemies to include the USA? I think not! Those of the present cannot really make an apology for the acts of those which belonged to a previous generation, although we can be sorrowful that the event ever had to happen. The atomic bomb was a weapon, very powerful and unique to date, but it was still a weapon and many more people have been killed with the sword, spear, rifle and HE bombs than those who were killed in these two WW II bombings. Yet the future of warfare goes forward and who knows whaat other deadly devices will be used by those forces and grouos in the world who now pray and work for the actual destruction of the world as we know it! Now that is a truly scary idea!
2
What does a moral revolution even mean? It is yet another worthless platitude from a worthless President. He will be remembered as the cotton candy president, sweet soundng but so lightweight as to be non-existent
6
Obama did everything but issue an outright apology for the atom bombs dropped on Japan. Maybe, just maybe, he should have explained exactly why America used atomic weapons there. Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Americans would have died in a ground assault on Japan. The fanatical Japanese military and its insane ruler would have sacrificed many more Japanese than that to defend their homeland. I'm no fan of Democrats, but at least Harry Truman recognized that he would actually save lives in the long run by dropping the bombs. He put
America and American servicemen first in his thought. Obama, on the other hand just can't comprehend or learn from history. Instead he panders and semi-apologized for an action that had to be taken. Shame on him.
America and American servicemen first in his thought. Obama, on the other hand just can't comprehend or learn from history. Instead he panders and semi-apologized for an action that had to be taken. Shame on him.
3
President Obama is a good man, thoughtful and decent. Can you imagine Trump doing something like this? Mr. Obama, I will miss you.
12
War is never pretty as we all know but Japan started it and I'm sorry for ours and their losses they should apologize for bombing the places their military bombed in our country.The U.S. has spent a lot of money helping to rebuild in Japan.War is ugly and always has been.Work things out That's what we teach our children the adults in power are to blame.World Peace is worth it.
2
As a 100%-native Japanese who was born in Japan and is currently working here in U.S., I do agree that this is definitely one of the most historic moments in American and Japanese history. I would like to give my deepest condolences to all the victims during WWII, including Pearl Harbor, Nankin massacre, Hiroshima, etc... Considering the situation at the time of WWII, the decision to drop the A-bombs was justified without a doubt. The decision to attack the Pearl Harbor was unfortunately justified by the Japanese empire at the time. The most important takeaway from these events is that in the middle of chaos and vicious cycles of retaliation and with the desire to expand and rule the earth, human beings could lose their mind and do anything. The only way to prevent this insanity is to learn from the history, understand each other, and apologize to each other spontaneously for their wrongdoing.
That said, I am strongly opposed to the protester in the picture demanding
apology to the President or U.S. First of all, asking Obama to apologize only induces the argument that you are the one who should apologize first, which I agree with. Second of all, as the sitting President, it is utterly impossible to apologize, considering feelings of U.S. citizens, Pentagon and congress.
Hence, I keep apologizing without hesitation for what my ancestors did, at person-to-person level, which I believe is the only thing I could do to promote peace in the world as a one Japanese citizen.
That said, I am strongly opposed to the protester in the picture demanding
apology to the President or U.S. First of all, asking Obama to apologize only induces the argument that you are the one who should apologize first, which I agree with. Second of all, as the sitting President, it is utterly impossible to apologize, considering feelings of U.S. citizens, Pentagon and congress.
Hence, I keep apologizing without hesitation for what my ancestors did, at person-to-person level, which I believe is the only thing I could do to promote peace in the world as a one Japanese citizen.
9
Obama's war in Yemen killed 1500 kids alone in Yemen last year. 6500 innocent adults, too. Who knows how many tens of thousands of innocent people he has killed with drone bombs in countless countries in the last 8 years when these countries have done nothing to the US. Yet the neocon lectures on peace and still people believe what he says instead of critically analysing what he does. His speechwriter's soaring rhetoric still makes otherwise rational people get misty eyed and overlook the fact that this president is as much of a warmonger as Bush.
11
I think the President handled this very well indeed.
By means of perspective: Prior to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Tokyo, Yokahama and many other Japanese cities had been virtually leveled, killing thousands upon thousands of civilians, using "conventional" bombs. Some WWII commentators have written that, as a result, there were few remaining such targets.
Likewise, the allies carried out massive bombing raids against numerous German cities killing thousands and thousands of civilians and, sadly, allied POWs held in those cities (See Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five"). The photo of bombed Cologne with only it's cathedral spire standing is a stark and accurate portrayal of the destruction.
The key difference with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of course, was the nature of the weaponry. That is what the President was emphasizing via this trip. He acknowledged the same thing Harry Truman did: This was different because of the devastation one bomb could cause, and the danger wrought by subsequent nuclear proliferation.
By means of perspective: Prior to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - Tokyo, Yokahama and many other Japanese cities had been virtually leveled, killing thousands upon thousands of civilians, using "conventional" bombs. Some WWII commentators have written that, as a result, there were few remaining such targets.
Likewise, the allies carried out massive bombing raids against numerous German cities killing thousands and thousands of civilians and, sadly, allied POWs held in those cities (See Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five"). The photo of bombed Cologne with only it's cathedral spire standing is a stark and accurate portrayal of the destruction.
The key difference with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, of course, was the nature of the weaponry. That is what the President was emphasizing via this trip. He acknowledged the same thing Harry Truman did: This was different because of the devastation one bomb could cause, and the danger wrought by subsequent nuclear proliferation.
6
The use of these weapons was the first example of what would much later become known as "shock and awe", intended to put the Russians (and to a lesser extent the Chinese) on notice that the US was the new global power, and that the same fate potentially awaited them.
1
I lived in Japan from 1991 to 1997. During that time I never visited Hiroshima because I didn't want to be manipulated into feeling guilty. I was shocked at the level of historical amnesia in Japan regarding how they started the war in China and expanded it, the medical experiments by Unit 731, the horrific mistreatment/torture of Allied POW's, Pearl Harbour, Sex slaves (comfort women), whitewashed history textbooks and unapologetic politicians. However, over time, I realized that many Japanese knew exactly what happened in the war and were extremely embarassed by it. In Japan, you don't bring up topics which make people uncomfortable. In 2005 I visited Hiroshima and went to the Museum. Everyone should. It's shocking. It's very difficult not to call the murder and god-awful deaths of half of a large city's civilian population, a war crime. Over time I've come to see Japan as a second home. I have both friends and family there. I wouldn't wish that kind of death on anyone. Just as I wouldn't want to be killed in a sneak attack at Pearl Harbour, or massacred in Nanking. The Japanese have a long way to go to acknowledge their war responsibility like Germany has - however, that doesn't excuse using a weapon as horrific as a nuclear bomb on civillians, TWICE. Suffice it to say we all have to do better to improve global understanding. When you understand your neighbours, and become friends, you're much less likely to end up fighting them in a war.
5
If people would just avoid doing to others what they don't want done to themselves much suffering would be alleviated.
2
True, the Japanese military committed many atrocities. But it was Japanese civilians who were the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And not all of them were marching in lockstep behind their government.
2
The main differences using the atom made made in August 1945 were: (1) far fewer US airmen were at risk because only one airplane carried bombs, compared to 500+ for a conventional mission, and (2) the shock effect of one airplane and one bomb causing that level of destruction. Dropping bombs TWICE, as you wrote, was necessary, as the first bomb did not result in surrender. Huge numbers of civilians died from conventional bombing, not to mention the ground war. You should check the figures on civilian losses to liberate the Philippines ("mopping up" operations were still going on in August 1945) and Okinawa (part of metropolitan Japan) for examples of what would have happened if we would have mounted an invasion of the home islands. House-to-house fighting in Tokyo and other big cities would have been as horrendous as Stalingrad, played many times over.
3
"... the start of our [humanity's] own moral awakening”
I wish it were so and I am glad Obama said it.
But current affairs say otherwise.
So do many comments here that rehash the war, point fingers and lay blame instead of seeing the bigger picture - man's inhumanity to man and how to (if even possible) human kind can evolve as a species to the positive, instead of continuing on this path of self-destruction even to the point of inventing new technology to destroy even more than ever before.
I wish it were so and I am glad Obama said it.
But current affairs say otherwise.
So do many comments here that rehash the war, point fingers and lay blame instead of seeing the bigger picture - man's inhumanity to man and how to (if even possible) human kind can evolve as a species to the positive, instead of continuing on this path of self-destruction even to the point of inventing new technology to destroy even more than ever before.
5
I would rate Donald Trump's emotional sensitivity and empathy at about the same level as General Curtis LeMay's.
2
You deride Gen. LeMay, and with some justification because he was a hard, hard man. But one seldom finds warriors wearing tutus and ballet slippers. War is dirty business, and it's a stroke of good fortune to have the LeMays of the world on your side, even though it may be necessary later to reject them...
2
our president's arrogance knows no bounds.
on his authorization we send drone strikes into
mud huts or tents with who knows how much
"collateral damage".
just hours before calling for a moral revolution?
where's the morality in that?
judge, jury and executioner.
where's the humanity in that?
coleman is a vilified commenter
on his authorization we send drone strikes into
mud huts or tents with who knows how much
"collateral damage".
just hours before calling for a moral revolution?
where's the morality in that?
judge, jury and executioner.
where's the humanity in that?
coleman is a vilified commenter
5
Coleman does not seem to understand morals. The moral
here is to do as little damage to others as possible while
facing the necessities of defending your self and your loved ones
from the aggressions of others.
here is to do as little damage to others as possible while
facing the necessities of defending your self and your loved ones
from the aggressions of others.
5
Obama calls for a "moral revolution" in nuclear weapons, after authorizing $1 trillion worth of new upgrades for America's nuclear stockpile. Just like Obama declared the war on terrorism "over" ("every war must end," he bellowed) ... while continuing to kill hundreds upon hundreds of "terror suspects" (i.e., young Muslim males) in more than half a dozen countries in the Mideast and Africa.
I am not saying I'm opposed to nuclear upgrades or even drone strikes -- but it is the eternal mismatch between Obama's pandering and pretentious words with his actual actions that has led so many people in this country and around the world to see him for what he really is: a know-it-all fraud.
I am not saying I'm opposed to nuclear upgrades or even drone strikes -- but it is the eternal mismatch between Obama's pandering and pretentious words with his actual actions that has led so many people in this country and around the world to see him for what he really is: a know-it-all fraud.
8
I think you do not understand the President's statements and actions.
3
Perhaps you can explain it to me. But you'll have to go very slowly.
2
I feel humbled and reverent in the face of the loss of life, in the face of a President willing to address the loss and the implications of the mechanism that was unleashed, and in the face of a pending election that may result in a US President so determined to defend, compete and "win" that such words would never cross his lips.
6
I find it ironic that people from a country that has never apologized for its atrocities throughout Asia before and during WWII never miss a chance to castigate the U.S. for dropping The Bomb. Maybe we can consider apologizing for Hiroshima when Japan apologizes for conducting medical experiments on Korean children that rivaled Mengele`s worst during the war.
9
Thank you, Mary Cook, for your thoughtful and intelligent post.
2
To see the truths about war and weapons of war....... nuclear,biological,chemical and "conventional",lets examine the POLITICAL SOUND BYTES of President Obama at Hiroshima, "Mankind posseses the means to destroy itself ".....,"nuclear technology requires a moral revolution",,,,,"more primitive weapons than nuclear are causing widespread destruction today",,,,,,"Hiroshima and Nagasaki,,,should be the start of our own moral awakening",...."We must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them(nuclear weapons) "
Next a review of the real time POLITICAL ACTION of President Obama on the above topics, Before coming to Hiroshima President Obama visited Viet Nam,where he LIFTED A LONG STANDING ARMS EMBARGO ,because Russia is selling Viet Nam 1.2 trillion dollars worth of arms and the us military-industrial complex was losing out, as well as a"warlike provocation" to China. President Obamas decision visit to Japan ,"was to reward Abe to "improve" ties and "FORGE A CLOSER MILITARY RELATION"SHIP" further"warlike provocation" against China...........both above actions stimulating "the logic of fear" which leads to agression and war,Obama recently approved 689 billion for "improving"the US nuclear arsenal.for the next 10 years,as a lame duck,he could have started the "moral revolution"with one veto!
The top five countries profiting from the world arms trade are the UNITED STATES,UK,FRANCE,RUSSIA CHINA the five permanent members of the UN SECURITY COUNCIL,
Next a review of the real time POLITICAL ACTION of President Obama on the above topics, Before coming to Hiroshima President Obama visited Viet Nam,where he LIFTED A LONG STANDING ARMS EMBARGO ,because Russia is selling Viet Nam 1.2 trillion dollars worth of arms and the us military-industrial complex was losing out, as well as a"warlike provocation" to China. President Obamas decision visit to Japan ,"was to reward Abe to "improve" ties and "FORGE A CLOSER MILITARY RELATION"SHIP" further"warlike provocation" against China...........both above actions stimulating "the logic of fear" which leads to agression and war,Obama recently approved 689 billion for "improving"the US nuclear arsenal.for the next 10 years,as a lame duck,he could have started the "moral revolution"with one veto!
The top five countries profiting from the world arms trade are the UNITED STATES,UK,FRANCE,RUSSIA CHINA the five permanent members of the UN SECURITY COUNCIL,
5
World War II did not begin in Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor or Poland.
World War II began in China with an invasion by the Empire of Japan that left 30 million dead Chinese. And World War II in Europe did not begin with the Holocaust. World War II began in Europe with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invading Poland that ultimately left 27.5 million Soviet citizens dead beneath the Nazi onslaught. Knowing the human nature and nurture extent of the most horrific holocausts of World War II is essential to prevention of future inhumanity.
According to the former Soviet Union and the current Russia World War II is known as the Great Patriotic War. According to the People's Republic of China World War II is known as the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Because there is only one biological evolutionary DNA genetic human race, all holocausts are created and perpetrated equally evil. Either the Golden Rule always abides because we are our brother's and sister's keepers. Or not. No holocaust ever justifies another. All wars must be balanced and judged by the same timeless universal moral human humble humane empathetic sympathetic standard.
World War II began in China with an invasion by the Empire of Japan that left 30 million dead Chinese. And World War II in Europe did not begin with the Holocaust. World War II began in Europe with Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invading Poland that ultimately left 27.5 million Soviet citizens dead beneath the Nazi onslaught. Knowing the human nature and nurture extent of the most horrific holocausts of World War II is essential to prevention of future inhumanity.
According to the former Soviet Union and the current Russia World War II is known as the Great Patriotic War. According to the People's Republic of China World War II is known as the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
Because there is only one biological evolutionary DNA genetic human race, all holocausts are created and perpetrated equally evil. Either the Golden Rule always abides because we are our brother's and sister's keepers. Or not. No holocaust ever justifies another. All wars must be balanced and judged by the same timeless universal moral human humble humane empathetic sympathetic standard.
3
Actions speak louder than words. Anybody watching Obama would interpret this as an apology even though he never actually uses the word. Obama's actions are particularly reprehensible doing this just before Memorial Day.
The people apologizing this Memorial Day should be the Japanese for killing and wounding thousands of Americans.
The people apologizing this Memorial Day should be the Japanese for killing and wounding thousands of Americans.
4
@Don - Nope, not "anybody watching", just you and a handful of others who either hate the president and/or Japan would use your interpretation.
2
I don't see President Obama's actions as necessarily being an aplogy! Anyone who has ever studied the history of those times knows the Japanese got what they deserved. They asked for it!...I do regret that Germany wasn't an island nation too, because those Nazis of the time needed to have one of their mid level cities nuked too.
2
For years I have wondered why German and Japanese civilians went along with their leader when it is obvious their country is on an imperialist war and not the self defense war their leader told them. It should be obvious right? Soldiers sent thousands of miles from home and foreign cities in ruins under constant bombing. I never found my answer until President Obama.
I can point to the continuing war in Afghanistan and Iraq; the expanded war in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine; the new or upcoming military bases in Baltic, Poland, The Philippines and Vietnan; the hugely expensive nuke upgrade program and the transfer of nuclear material to India to augment that country's nukes; the sale of arms to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and soon Vietnam; domestic spying and persecution of whistleblowers but none of this would stop a large group of people from thinking Obama is the most peaceful president ever. Why?
Selective ignorance and the ability to rationalize anything negative. Obama is a beautiful orator and excellent showman. Large group of people are willing to take him for his words because the world he envisions is so beautiful. Anything that's bad do not exist in this prefect world and when confronting with overwhelming fact, the believer rationalize the inconsistency to continue to live in this perfect world.
This trip is exactly what it is. Support military alliance and rearmament to counter China. There will be war in Asia in the years to come.
I can point to the continuing war in Afghanistan and Iraq; the expanded war in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Ukraine; the new or upcoming military bases in Baltic, Poland, The Philippines and Vietnan; the hugely expensive nuke upgrade program and the transfer of nuclear material to India to augment that country's nukes; the sale of arms to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and soon Vietnam; domestic spying and persecution of whistleblowers but none of this would stop a large group of people from thinking Obama is the most peaceful president ever. Why?
Selective ignorance and the ability to rationalize anything negative. Obama is a beautiful orator and excellent showman. Large group of people are willing to take him for his words because the world he envisions is so beautiful. Anything that's bad do not exist in this prefect world and when confronting with overwhelming fact, the believer rationalize the inconsistency to continue to live in this perfect world.
This trip is exactly what it is. Support military alliance and rearmament to counter China. There will be war in Asia in the years to come.
4
It's become clear that Obama (and possibly any future president) is powerless to slow the growth of the nuclear weapons industry (which is exactly what it is), or, in any way, affect the direction of nuclear arms control. That the Pentagon continues to create newer nukes ("but they're safer!") as they let the current ICBM silo system deteriorate to unsafe levels speaks to how this industry put the world at risk, on a daily basis. Calling for an exorbitant program for a new class of nuke attack submarines is lunacy, and we can be assured they cost overruns will continue to cripple our economy. As we now outspend the next NINE countries in the world COMBINED on "defense", there can be no rational excuse for continuing these empire -level expenditures. Our infrastructure is crumbling, our educational system is under constant attack by the chickenhawks in congress, and the people have no actual representation regarding the direction of our military. The timeworn "it's about jobs" excuse is NOT rational. We can rebuild our country, but not with this continuing parasitic black hole of expense.
"Overkill" doesn't begin to describe this.
"Overkill" doesn't begin to describe this.
1
Leo Szilard, the Hungarian physicist who was a major player in the Manhattan Project posed the following hypothetical:
Suppose the Germans had beaten us to the development of the bomb, dropped it on two US cities and subsequently lost the war. Szilard insists—rightly so—that all of the civilian leaders, military personnel and scientists involved in the bomb project would have been tried as war criminals and executed.
Suppose the Germans had beaten us to the development of the bomb, dropped it on two US cities and subsequently lost the war. Szilard insists—rightly so—that all of the civilian leaders, military personnel and scientists involved in the bomb project would have been tried as war criminals and executed.
3
President Obama's actions in visiting Hiroshima were most appropriate. Acting on behalf of the American people he acknowledged the grief of the survivors and the tragedy of those who perished without apologizing for delivering destruction to the Japanese. The alternative would have been far worse. Millions of Japanese would have died and possibly Japanese culture would have been destroyed as well.
The Soviet Union had, as promised, declared war on Japan three months after the defeat of Germany. The Soviets smashed the Japanese in Manchuria (fighting continued weeks after the peace on Sept. 1, 1945) and established control of North Korea. North Korea is the legacy of the Soviet involvement at the end of the war in the Pacific. Had the war progressed, all of Korea would have been taken and the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido probably would have been invaded by Soviet forces. That was the reality of 1945. Imagine a divided Japan today and all of Korea as the Hermit Kingdom.
Buried along the Burma Railway, in unmarked graves, are 90,000 slave laborers and some 12,600 Allied prisoners. The Philippines lost at least 800,000 dead. Manila, even though it had been declared an open city, was destroyed in the fighting with 100,000 citizens killed. China lost untold millions, perhaps as many as 15M.
The A-bombs were a tragedy but also gave Japan the opportunity to assume the roll of victim. An apology? China, Korea and Southeast Asia are still waiting.
The Soviet Union had, as promised, declared war on Japan three months after the defeat of Germany. The Soviets smashed the Japanese in Manchuria (fighting continued weeks after the peace on Sept. 1, 1945) and established control of North Korea. North Korea is the legacy of the Soviet involvement at the end of the war in the Pacific. Had the war progressed, all of Korea would have been taken and the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido probably would have been invaded by Soviet forces. That was the reality of 1945. Imagine a divided Japan today and all of Korea as the Hermit Kingdom.
Buried along the Burma Railway, in unmarked graves, are 90,000 slave laborers and some 12,600 Allied prisoners. The Philippines lost at least 800,000 dead. Manila, even though it had been declared an open city, was destroyed in the fighting with 100,000 citizens killed. China lost untold millions, perhaps as many as 15M.
The A-bombs were a tragedy but also gave Japan the opportunity to assume the roll of victim. An apology? China, Korea and Southeast Asia are still waiting.
12
"I held his hand, and we didn't need an interpreter," Mr. Tsuboi, 91, said later. "I could understand what he wanted to say by his expression."
No interpreter needed. It was obvious to Mr. Tsuboi that Obama wanted to apologize even though he didn't use the words.
Obama's actions are particularly reprehensible doing this just before Memorial Day. Thousands of Americans gave their lives so Obama could live in a free country. Something he seems to have forgotten.
No interpreter needed. It was obvious to Mr. Tsuboi that Obama wanted to apologize even though he didn't use the words.
Obama's actions are particularly reprehensible doing this just before Memorial Day. Thousands of Americans gave their lives so Obama could live in a free country. Something he seems to have forgotten.
7
Our President did not apologize. Period. No matter what
the survivor projected into the President's look. The President
is honoring all our military by showing his understanding of the
horrors of war and the grief of having to kill anyone in order to
protect ourselves from evil.
the survivor projected into the President's look. The President
is honoring all our military by showing his understanding of the
horrors of war and the grief of having to kill anyone in order to
protect ourselves from evil.
4
In a striking example of the gap between Mr. Obama’s vision of a nuclear weapons-free world and the realities of purging them, a new Pentagon census of the American nuclear arsenal shows his administration has reduced the stockpile less than any other post-Cold War presidency.
-------------------------
Barack Obama. All show and no go year 8.
-------------------------
Barack Obama. All show and no go year 8.
7
Yes but ask why he hasn't reduced it. The Legislature is in charge of the
military budget.
military budget.
4
We should be very grateful to have a dignified statesman as our president. Clearly, this is rare in our culture -- I wish he could remain given the current state of affairs in the US. At least the world appreciates him for his intelligence and grace. Thank you again, Mr. President.
16
Moral revolution? Try telling that to Trump! The looming prospect of his presidency is undoubtedly prompting a rethink by US adversaries of the necessity for a vastly boosted nuclear capability in terms of arsenals of more powerful atomic weaponry and more effective far reaching delivery systems. This incentive is driven not as much for security concerns as it is a radically deepening fear for survival against a more bellicose US foreign policy. Even if Trump fails in his quest for power, his reckless bombast has already changed world attitudes towards the US.
5
Let's also recognize the largely unheralded efforts of the Secret Service to keep our President safe. I was moved by the photograph of the President embracing a survivor, with an agent standing protectively alongside. What a difficult job it must be to remain at all times alert yet also discreet and dignified at such pivotal moments.
6
Our atrocities, one against the other, will continue under the leadership of any nation that has blinders on regarding others, in a "them/us" mentality. The decision to begin atrocities begins at the top, which makes it very important to choose our leaders wisely. Especially now.
We need the gravitas that the highest office in the land commands....we do not need belligerence and scorn. We do not need bullying and contempt...that belongs in the cartoon world, not in ours.
We need the gravitas that the highest office in the land commands....we do not need belligerence and scorn. We do not need bullying and contempt...that belongs in the cartoon world, not in ours.
2
I believe the "highest office in the land" is an illusion. The source of power in this country is not found there, but certainly imagined to be so. Making speeches praising peace, while on a trip selling arms tells you more about where national power lies. Decades ago we lost a president who did not agree with other internal government agencies regarding foreign policy actions. After his removal, that has no longer been an issue.
2
Let us remember that the Japanese were weeks away at most from surrendering and seeking peace talks when the bombs were dropped. The Axis powers were crippled at that point. Truman and his administration knew this, but went ahead with the bombings anyway.
3
simply not true...there was a majority of the Japanese leadership who favored war until after the 1st bomb was dropped. History just doesn't support your view that Japan was on their way to surrendering. They had just showed the US how bloody the invasion of the main islands would be when they cost the US 60K casualties on Okinawa.
5
The Japanese were prepared to fight to the last man. An allied invasion of Japan would have resulted in hundreds of thousands of American dead or wounded and millions of dead Japanese. Tens of millions died during the war. Truman did the right thing to end the war and we have nothing to apologize for.
5
Very bizarre on the NYT video, they cut away to show a Chinese "dignitary" speaking about the atrocities in Nanjing, is there no end to the Chinese need for attention? Their leaders act like children, not speaking about their own atrocities. Nanjing? What about all your social experiments, aka revolutions, China?
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God". Matthew 5:9 , and the next two passages are very relevant. It seems like Trump and evangelicals have ignored these passages.
11
This why I voted twice for this President, and I'm glad I did. He is in a class by himself.
16
Always historical records are recording by individuals seeing events through personal prism. The failure of the masses is to review the totality of records and logically analyze the information to extract the closest to reality.
Sadly, as years pass, and intellectual curiosity is more & more shallowly rooted by the masses in on-line site claims / counter claims, history is further distorted.
President Obama appears to keenly understand this and his speech was precisely the salve needed. Fine job President Obama.
Sadly, as years pass, and intellectual curiosity is more & more shallowly rooted by the masses in on-line site claims / counter claims, history is further distorted.
President Obama appears to keenly understand this and his speech was precisely the salve needed. Fine job President Obama.
8
It is difficult to know what to say to the commenters who take such a solemn occasion, on Memorial Day weekend, to bray accusations, strange versions of history, and simplistic "solutions," at the President.
As always, though, it's possible to observe that the kind of willful ignorance, short-sightedness, and moral laziness that created World War II are the real enemies.
Fortunately, the majority take this as what it is: a remarkable, and a hopeful, moment.
As always, though, it's possible to observe that the kind of willful ignorance, short-sightedness, and moral laziness that created World War II are the real enemies.
Fortunately, the majority take this as what it is: a remarkable, and a hopeful, moment.
16
Following the western example of imperialism, Japan invaded China, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines and much of Asia without provocation. In China alone, 100 million people died from war and starvation. People were tortured, raped, mutilated. Because of American protection and the need to have open markets, the United States made sure that China never got any reparation or even an apology. Only recently Korean women forced into prostitution by the Japanese received about $8 per rape, fifty years after the fact. Again, no apology. Insult to injury.
Japanese atrocities are war crimes. Even captured US soldiers were treated cruelly in violation of every norm of war (Bataan Death March). Numerous soldiers in their old age have written about this, but the Japanese have whitewashed all these accounts.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to disable US intervention during Japanese expansion. They tremendous aggression led to their being bombed. Japan is the aggressor not the victim.
On the other side, it is truly ironic that Obama is giving this speech. He is flying drones over foreign countries and killing purported terrorists and in many instances, innocent victims. He is being judge, jury and executioner and clearly violates international law. It is truly rich that the country that invented the atomic bomb, and the only one that used it against humanity, twice, not once, is claiming the moral high ground.
In light of the above, Obama and the Japanese get an A+ for propaganda.
Japanese atrocities are war crimes. Even captured US soldiers were treated cruelly in violation of every norm of war (Bataan Death March). Numerous soldiers in their old age have written about this, but the Japanese have whitewashed all these accounts.
Japan bombed Pearl Harbor to disable US intervention during Japanese expansion. They tremendous aggression led to their being bombed. Japan is the aggressor not the victim.
On the other side, it is truly ironic that Obama is giving this speech. He is flying drones over foreign countries and killing purported terrorists and in many instances, innocent victims. He is being judge, jury and executioner and clearly violates international law. It is truly rich that the country that invented the atomic bomb, and the only one that used it against humanity, twice, not once, is claiming the moral high ground.
In light of the above, Obama and the Japanese get an A+ for propaganda.
7
Do you know what baloney is?
akahito visited pearl harbor a few years ago, so this is just a return visit
The angry people commenting here remind me of the handful of crazy Japanese soldiers who stayed in caves for extended time after the war was over, refusing to accept reality of the war's end.
At least they came out of their caves eventually, realizing the war was over.
71 years on why are you still in yours?
Let go.
Move on.
Bake some cookies if you're bored.
At least they came out of their caves eventually, realizing the war was over.
71 years on why are you still in yours?
Let go.
Move on.
Bake some cookies if you're bored.
10
Like telling African Americans to let go of slavery? Move on?
Actually, it would be a good idea to let that go, too.
1
Another weak moment for Obama. He doesn't get it. Why not go to Dresden and say in the future population centers should be off limits for bombing. Japan was worse than Hitler. Countless people suffered and died at the hands of those fanatics. American prisoners were beheaded or murdered, many other put into slavery. The Japanese try hard to ignore their horrific history, now we have an American President helping them. The US had the option of invading Japan and deaths would have been millions. On Okinawa the Japanese told the population to kill themselves rather than surrender, they told their soldiers the same. Any comments should have been to used to tell the Japanese, your totalitarian leaders caused this, necessitated this but afterwards when they were punished we helped you rebuild.
5
No, you dont get it.
It's beyond ridiculous to think the US needs to apologize the nuclear bombs dropped in Japan. It is the Emperor who needs to apologize for it. Japanese started the war, invaded other countries, massacred millions of civilians. And the two nukes were the direct results of the Emperor's refusal to surrender. As a Chinese whose relatives were killed by Japanese bomb, and my grandparents were forced to leave their home because of the Japanese invasion, I don't have much sympathy to the victims of the bombs. To anyway who want to say the victims were innocent, just remember Japanese people are invaders, and they wholeheartedly supported the war. It was a necessary evil to save many many more lives.
the only thing I think the US should have done differently was to drop the bomb directly into Emperor's palace.
the only thing I think the US should have done differently was to drop the bomb directly into Emperor's palace.
7
What! Why didn't he just call the US Armed Forces in WWII murderers? If not for Pearl Harbor, there would have been no Hiroshima. To make such a cold, callous statement, especially given Abe's refusal to visit Pearl Harbor to pay respect to those who died in the raid by Japanese forces, is outrageous and shameful for a US president.
6
What cold, callous statement are you talking about? Sometimes I wonder if we're all reading the same article.
2
How soon we forget that the Japanese butchered over 20 MILLION people throughout Asia and the pacific from the 1930's through the 1940's. Their text books still infer that THEY were the victims during those times and the people of Japan and their leadership still refuse to acknowledge their savage behavior. The Japanese refuse to apologize to China and their leadership have stated they have no intention of visiting Pearl Harbor. Mr. president stop with your apology tour of the world.
5
Apologize! Does Japan realize and remember the horrific and inhumane acts they committed during the war in the Pacific? My parents and grandparents could never discuss them as they were so unbelievable. While the dropping of the atomic bombs was similarly a horrific event, it finally stopped the evil of the Japanese war empire. Japan should just be appreciative of this act of the President for recognizing the suffering and deaths caused by the dropping of the bombs and a reminder to the world of its consequences.
4
I guess the Japanese think war crimes against the Korean people and the Chinese people are somehow different.
2
This is beautiful. Human, regardless of any political implications/expectations you want to read into to it. It's only my hope that someday Israel and Palestine will celebrate a similar moment of coming together. The steps that Bernie Sanders is taking are the first means toward that end. I congratulate his candor.
1
Japanese want a apology? Ask him to wait in line and take token. Countries committed worst crimes like colonizaton, wiping out entire races etc. They come first. Did you take token Japan? What is the number?
I don't think one generation apologizing for the perceived wrongs of another generation past is appropriate. What is important is that we learn and do better in the future. People do their best at the time they are doing it.
The few Japanese that want an apology, should call for a Japanese apologize for their three alls, or scorched earth policy against China, treatment of prisoners during World War II, and Peral Harbor. But I really prefer that we accept the past for what it was. If apologies were warranted it was by the people who were there.
The reality is that the bombs probably did save lives and considering more Japanese died from Americas fire bombing of Japan than from the atomic bombs, many more Japanese lives may have been lost in an extended war and extended fire bombings than from the atomic bombs. Perhaps a thank you for bringing us to our senses is warranted from Japan who, by the way attacked us first at Pearl Harbor.
If you kick a sleeping dog you can expect to get bit. Should the dog apologies for the bite?
The few Japanese that want an apology, should call for a Japanese apologize for their three alls, or scorched earth policy against China, treatment of prisoners during World War II, and Peral Harbor. But I really prefer that we accept the past for what it was. If apologies were warranted it was by the people who were there.
The reality is that the bombs probably did save lives and considering more Japanese died from Americas fire bombing of Japan than from the atomic bombs, many more Japanese lives may have been lost in an extended war and extended fire bombings than from the atomic bombs. Perhaps a thank you for bringing us to our senses is warranted from Japan who, by the way attacked us first at Pearl Harbor.
If you kick a sleeping dog you can expect to get bit. Should the dog apologies for the bite?
5
Wow, it took 70 years for an American president to stand up in Hiroshima. It's a good, small step towards peace.
9
All the other important considerations aside, Everyone should know how awful Hiroshima was. John Hersey's 1946 New Yorker article is a revelation.
Http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima
Http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima
2
I am going to miss this mature respectful President. Trump would advocate nuking any country and his supporters would love it.
11
The twisted reasoning of white people as they try to justify their disdain for our graceful, thoughtful President is painful and embarrassing to observe.
10
Your comment exposes the racist element of Obama supporters...you assume only white have issues with this visit or President but in fact many non-whites have issues with the visit and do not support president. If you think your comments give strength to Obama or the visit you are mistaken. By playing the race card you only weaken the President and give strength to his critics.
2
Obviously not a fan of nuclear holocaust. But it's instructive to recall that an estimated 90 million people died in conflicts in the half century before Hiroshima, a fraction of that in the 50 years following. And if one wants to commemorate the hell of WWII, a recollection of the conventional bombing raid on Tokyo that took many more lives than Hiroshima would be appropriate. One might also recall that Japan didn't surrender until two atomic bombs were dropped, and even then had to fight off a military coup attempt on the day of surrender.
4
On Memorial Day I hope our President will be in a U.S. Veterans’ cemetery stateside. Most of us haven’t served, including Obama, but we owe a big debt to those who did, and do.
The undeniable suffering of the Japanese people lies squarely with their Emperor, who insisted they die to the last person in a war already lost. They were given the option of surrendering. Were we supposed to lose more American lives in a bloody invasion………….at the end of a long period of waging major wars in two theaters? The history of Japanese aggression and atrocities against other peoples and prisoners of war in this period is fact.
I find President Obama’s rhetoric rather hollow overall in that his concern for innocents apparently doesn’t extend to Syria. Easy to critique history in retrospect, a lot harder to sort it out in real time.
The undeniable suffering of the Japanese people lies squarely with their Emperor, who insisted they die to the last person in a war already lost. They were given the option of surrendering. Were we supposed to lose more American lives in a bloody invasion………….at the end of a long period of waging major wars in two theaters? The history of Japanese aggression and atrocities against other peoples and prisoners of war in this period is fact.
I find President Obama’s rhetoric rather hollow overall in that his concern for innocents apparently doesn’t extend to Syria. Easy to critique history in retrospect, a lot harder to sort it out in real time.
3
Being a pacifist I'd been hoping all along that The President would take more actions to earn that peace prize.
Get rid of nukes. Yeah, ok. So then if our enemies destroy us, we just die instead of destroying the world so they don't win. This helps USA how?
2
Far more people have been killed by the AK-47, designed, manufactured and distributed by the Soviet Union. While that crime against humanity is completely ignored, the US is criticized for ending a war that the Soviet Union helped start. The Soviet Union was a treaty partner with Japan and made an alliance with Hitler to carve up Poland.
1
All wrapped up in three concise sentences one finds unreconstructed rationalisation, astounding attempt at deflection, and a complete rejetion of any responsibility.... With attitudes like these, no wonder the cold war lasted so long, and seems to be rekindled.
Nice speech. Getting back to reality:
"US and British documents declassified last year also revealed a previously unknown Israeli purchase of about 100 tons of yellowcake from Argentina in 1963 or 1964, without the safeguards typically used in nuclear transactions to prevent the material being used in weapons.
Israel had few qualms about proliferating nuclear weapons knowhow and materials, giving South Africa's apartheid regime help in developing its own bomb in the 1970s in return for 600 tons of yellowcake."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclea...
"US and British documents declassified last year also revealed a previously unknown Israeli purchase of about 100 tons of yellowcake from Argentina in 1963 or 1964, without the safeguards typically used in nuclear transactions to prevent the material being used in weapons.
Israel had few qualms about proliferating nuclear weapons knowhow and materials, giving South Africa's apartheid regime help in developing its own bomb in the 1970s in return for 600 tons of yellowcake."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/truth-israels-secret-nuclea...
1
its a good thing Obama wasn't president when the bomb needed to be dropped, otherwise we would have still been fighting that war and losing thousands of more men and women in the assault on Japan.
2
Everything Obama does offends the roster of cowardly chicken hawks, Vietnam draft dodgers, and military service avoider-shirkers like the talking-heads at Fox News.
6
I'm sure the ultimate chicken hawk, Dick Cheney, had something to say about Mr. Obama's actions in Japan.
1
It has been noted that Nagasaki is the "forgotten" city in this narrative. That is how Japan wants it. Dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima did not end the war. That did not happen until after Nagasaki. Even then. the Japanese war council needed the Emperor to make the decision. Japan did not consider itself defeated before the second bomb. Prior to the final end, no Japanese army capitulated. No army, no corp, no brigade, no regiment, no battalion, no company, no platoon. The highest ranking Japanese officer who was captured was a colonel, and that was in August, 1945. For those who think letting the war continue for another 6 months or a year would be no big deal, remember that people were still dying in huge numbers even without an invasion or atomic bombing. In China alone, between 100,000 and 150,000 innocent people were dying each month due to disease, starvation, and outright murder. This would not end until the war ended. Would this even be a discussion if the innocents to be saved were in Europe and White? Finally, when I was in high school in 1971, we debated the use of the bombs. I began by asking how many guys in the class thought it would have been better to invade Japan rather than end the war through the bombs. Several hands were raised. I then asked how many were volunteering for Vietnam. All hands came down. I suspect the same would be true here.
3
Being the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima Obama has not only displayed a rare sense of courage and humility but proved to be a great pain reliever to the victim families of the nuclear holocaust. It's like ending the long nuclear winter and heralding a new era of hope and enduring peace.
20
Prof. Sharma, it was a war to the death that Japan started...use of hyperbolic language, such as holocaust, is not going to ever negate that fact. Obama has done a disservice to his countrymen and his country's veterans by going on this trip. Maybe to you in India, who also fought the Japanese, this trip seems good but its just so much progressive thinking that weakness is strength along with a good dose of anti-Americansim that justifies this.
2
So the victims in Korea and China can expect some hugs from Abe I guess.
2
Obama's visiting Hiroshima in and of itself is an apology. We owe the Japanese nothing; they owe us for the rebirth of their country as modern, technologically advanced and democratic. Japan has never acknowledged or apologized for the colossal number of rapes, acts of torture and executions that they committed against the Chinese, Malaysians, Filipinos, Koreans, Indonesians, American and British POWs.
13
"Obama's visiting Hiroshima in and of itself is an apology."
Speak for yourself on that one. From the perspective of the Japanese people, Obama's visiting Hiroshima in and of itself is definitely NOT an apology. There is a very complex protocol and terminology that goes into issuing apologies in Japan and in the Japanese language. Obama's visit and the words he spoke didn't even come close to that level.
Speak for yourself on that one. From the perspective of the Japanese people, Obama's visiting Hiroshima in and of itself is definitely NOT an apology. There is a very complex protocol and terminology that goes into issuing apologies in Japan and in the Japanese language. Obama's visit and the words he spoke didn't even come close to that level.
1
It took 15 seconds to find this.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/13/world/asia/japan-ww2-shinz...
Nothing is helped, and nothing is built, on "morality" that relies on willful ignorance.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/13/world/asia/japan-ww2-shinz...
Nothing is helped, and nothing is built, on "morality" that relies on willful ignorance.
Thank you Howard. I had many relatives who victims of the Japanese's reign of terror when they occupied my country in South East Asia.
As Japan goes to consider the horrors of what the bomb did to them, i would like to ask that they take a moment to also consider what their relatives did to mine. If they are going to make a bid deal of how much they suffered, please make a big deal of how we suffered too. The rape, the torture, the deprivation of food. Men, women, children, babies.
We didn't start the war. Japan was the aggressor and the invader. And they haven't even begun to account for the atrocities that they have committed.
America saved us. Period.
As Japan goes to consider the horrors of what the bomb did to them, i would like to ask that they take a moment to also consider what their relatives did to mine. If they are going to make a bid deal of how much they suffered, please make a big deal of how we suffered too. The rape, the torture, the deprivation of food. Men, women, children, babies.
We didn't start the war. Japan was the aggressor and the invader. And they haven't even begun to account for the atrocities that they have committed.
America saved us. Period.
2
There seems to be a number of people upset that President Obama handled a complex and sensitive issue with tact and compassion. Well not me. This is the type of behavior that I want my leader and representative to the world to show. Good job Mr President.
54
Agree !!
What happened in August of 1945 over Japan will haunt humanity, as it should. But an apology is not necessary. It is not difficult to point out why the US should not have used the atomic bombs. Yes, Japan was nearing surrender. Yes, the Japanese had no allies, and some blockade may well have compelled them to give up by the end of 1945 or earlier. But what about the Soviets? Stalin promised to enter the Asian theatre three months after the war in Europe had ended. He had already occupied much of Eastern Europe and showed no sign of allowing any sort of democratic institutions to develop. The US could not take the chance that a similar dynamic would develop in Japan; the war had to come to a close quickly. An invasion or blockade would not have produced that result. Beyond that, can anyone imagine Truman trying to justify an invasion of Japan, and the inevitable slaughter of US soldiers, when he had the atomic bombs in his back pocket?
This was war, and searching for some moral solution to something that is almost always immoral in the first place seems ridiculous. Taking our modern perception of human life and super imposing it on American decision makers in August of 1945 is unwise.
This was war, and searching for some moral solution to something that is almost always immoral in the first place seems ridiculous. Taking our modern perception of human life and super imposing it on American decision makers in August of 1945 is unwise.
10
Actually, Truman was eager to announce Russia's entry into the war as a hostile power to Japan. It was part of Truman's two-pronged strategy to rapidly cause Japanese surrender. Part 1 was assurance regarding the fate of the Emperor and part 2 was the announcement of Russia entering the war.
But Truman never presented this plan, which he expressed high confidence would bring surrender. He immediately scrapped it after the successful test of the atomic bomb in Alamogordo, NM. THAT is when he switched his demand to "unconditional surrender" and massacred hundreds of thousands of people in a totally unnecessary act of stupidity and criminality.
But Truman never presented this plan, which he expressed high confidence would bring surrender. He immediately scrapped it after the successful test of the atomic bomb in Alamogordo, NM. THAT is when he switched his demand to "unconditional surrender" and massacred hundreds of thousands of people in a totally unnecessary act of stupidity and criminality.
1
Unleashing not one, but two atomic weapons on a civilian population was a singular event. Obama puts it beautifully - it showed that "mankind possessed the means to destroy itself". Let us not diminish the horror of what was done by justifying it as a means to an end which theoretically saved lives - the implication there seems to be that those 'saved' (Allied?) lives mattered more than the ones that were lost. That is not to forget the terrible atrocities perpetrated by the Japanese in China and south-east Asia - my father fought against them in Burma as part of the British-Indian army in World War 2. There were many other horrible events of mass destruction such as fire-bombings of cities during the war, and people are right to remind us of them, but the scale of destruction unleashed by these was unique.
5
Oh, Mr. President, I miss you already.
You are truly an inspiration, as a POTUS should be.
YOU have made America great, and we are all the better for it.
You are truly an inspiration, as a POTUS should be.
YOU have made America great, and we are all the better for it.
21
we are weaker around the world today than we were 7 years ago. Obama has not been all bad but in foreign policy he has been a disaster. Worse even than W, and that was pretty bad. Only his drones see him as a positive strength for US foreign policy
2
Watch what I do, not what I say (John Mitchell to President Nixon)
The largest infrastructure program President Obama has signed on, is not civilian, but military, a one trillion (that is 1000 billion) dollar program to upgrade the atomic arsenal of the United States. The most destabilizing aspect of which is miniaturization, lowering the threshold for deployment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/science/as-us-modernizes-nuclear-weapo...
https://www.armscontrol.org/blog/ArmsControlNow/2016-02-09/Last-Obama-Bu...
President Oban
The largest infrastructure program President Obama has signed on, is not civilian, but military, a one trillion (that is 1000 billion) dollar program to upgrade the atomic arsenal of the United States. The most destabilizing aspect of which is miniaturization, lowering the threshold for deployment.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/12/science/as-us-modernizes-nuclear-weapo...
https://www.armscontrol.org/blog/ArmsControlNow/2016-02-09/Last-Obama-Bu...
President Oban
7
Never let reality trouble the usual rant, I guess.
http://www.ploughshares.org/issues-analysis/article/obama’s-arms-control-goals-likely-fall-short
By the way, other than plain horror and sorrow, it's always a mistake to take the Hiroshimas as simple events, and to respond to them in simplistic ways.
http://www.ploughshares.org/issues-analysis/article/obama’s-arms-control-goals-likely-fall-short
By the way, other than plain horror and sorrow, it's always a mistake to take the Hiroshimas as simple events, and to respond to them in simplistic ways.
Obama's Immoral Revolution includes ginning up Cold War II, by spending one *trillion* dollars on a new, utterly unnecessary nuclear arms race, and provoking Russia by stationing NATO troops and arms right up against the Russian border.
The most startling thing about this is the media blackout on these outrages, outrages which would have produced vigorous debate in Congress, and massive protests in the streets, in previous, more-enlightened decades.
The most startling thing about this is the media blackout on these outrages, outrages which would have produced vigorous debate in Congress, and massive protests in the streets, in previous, more-enlightened decades.
3
Coming soon: Japanese leaders come to America to apologize for the Bataan Death March, vivisection of healthy American POWs, followed by a pan Asian tour of apology to Korea, China (Rape of Nanking) and other regional countries.
13
A "Moral Revolution". That all the giant egos and religious fanatics of the world will abide by. No Really.
Just like China and the Pacific Ocean, Russia and Ukraine, and Islamic "leaders" and the Mid East.
Just like China and the Pacific Ocean, Russia and Ukraine, and Islamic "leaders" and the Mid East.
2
Notice how China is next to South China Sea, Russia next to Ukraine and Islam originated from Middle East? What's Obama doing there half way across the world? Talk about a man and his ego.
1
Mr. Obama's Asia foreign policy is anchored in an outdated cold-war mindset. This bowing to Japan is neither needed nor very meaningful. That is the price Mr. Obama has to pay to continue to have Japan in his back pocket. Nothing the US is doing in the Asian theater is helping with issues that could easily create conflict. Swarming the south China sea with warships does nothing but to escalate the already high tensions.
5
My father served in WWII and was on Tinian Island when the planes departed to deliver The Bomb. He later served as part of the occupying force in Japan. I would probably not be here today if Truman had not dropped those 2 bombs as my dad would have joined the invasion forces. But I am also appalled that the human race succumbed to such a terrible place in history as to require the use of such a hideous weapon. I can think of no more fitting place for Obama to be this Memorial Day weekend, to heal old wounds and create new friendships. I miss my dad since he died 2 years ago, but I know he would be happy for our President and words of healing.
27
"Diplomat-in-Chief". "Healer-in-Chief".
In the past two years Barack Obama has sought to and succeeded in burying enmity that had bought about so much waste and suffering -- with Iran, Cuba, Vietnam and now Japan.
Diplomacy over war. Friendship over hatred. Peace and prosperity over death and destruction.
Fortunately, his policies, agreements, actions and symbols will be very hard to undo by the forces in Washington that represent jingoism, xenophobia and military solutions as the only means to conduct our foreign policy.
In the past two years Barack Obama has sought to and succeeded in burying enmity that had bought about so much waste and suffering -- with Iran, Cuba, Vietnam and now Japan.
Diplomacy over war. Friendship over hatred. Peace and prosperity over death and destruction.
Fortunately, his policies, agreements, actions and symbols will be very hard to undo by the forces in Washington that represent jingoism, xenophobia and military solutions as the only means to conduct our foreign policy.
23
I'm going to miss President Obama so much. It will be a long time before we see someone with his grace, intellect, dignity and compassion.
27
There seems to be either a great ignorance about the actual war in the Pacific region among respondents here, or a wishful revisionism to fit modern day sensibilities. The hostilities in Asia and the Pacific were not started by Pearl Harbor. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and began a campaign of exceptional barbarity all around the Pacific. THe US turned its (official) face away from Japanese cruelty and expansionism from 10 years before finally being forced into the conflict in Pearl Harbor. And for those who believe the Japanese military would have accepted the dishonor of defeat simply as a pragmatic matter of course deceive themselves. No one has proved Santayana wrong about the lessons of history yet. Surrendering to revisionist narratives now that make Japan a victim would be to openly invite historical amnesia.
20
Perhaps the US colonization of Hawaii & installing a huge military base there was not the best way to avoid being targeted & entangled in Asia's own horrors.
In any case Firebombing cities & nuking civilians is never an option.
In any case Firebombing cities & nuking civilians is never an option.
1
Actually the US did not turn it head, we had a destroyer attacked by Japan in Chinese waters and we used our economic/trade policy to punish Japan for their actions in China prior to Pear Harbor. The Japanese saw the US as their enemy and often use the steel embargo as justification for Pear Harbor. The fact that Obama is now giving substance to the Japanese narrative of the war is the biggest disservice in this visit. Just by going he validates the enemies of the US while hurting the US veterans who sacrificed so much to stop Japan so long ago
2
“[G]rew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes”. Although Mr. Obama is talking about pre-WWII Japan, he could just as easily be talking about his own proclivity for drone killings. And just as the Japanese play down their transgressions, so does he---going all the way to Hiroshima and not apologizing to aged victims who somehow escaped an instantaneous mass murder. They are individuals and do not represent any tribe except in the mind of a tribesman from another tribe.
Without having to saying the "a" word, Obama could have expressed sorrow by simply quoting a former president: “it revolts my soul,” said Herbert Hoover, that The Bomb was "the most terrible and barbaric weapon that has ever come into the hand of man. Despite any sophistries its major use is not to kill fighting men, but to kill women, children, and civilian men of whole cities as a pressure on governments. If it comes into general use, we may see all civilization destroyed."(FN)
FN: Smith, Richard Norton. “Hoover & Truman: A Presidential Friendship” A Joint Project of the Truman & Hoover Presidential Libraries. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/intro.htm,
Without having to saying the "a" word, Obama could have expressed sorrow by simply quoting a former president: “it revolts my soul,” said Herbert Hoover, that The Bomb was "the most terrible and barbaric weapon that has ever come into the hand of man. Despite any sophistries its major use is not to kill fighting men, but to kill women, children, and civilian men of whole cities as a pressure on governments. If it comes into general use, we may see all civilization destroyed."(FN)
FN: Smith, Richard Norton. “Hoover & Truman: A Presidential Friendship” A Joint Project of the Truman & Hoover Presidential Libraries. http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/intro.htm,
4
Thousands of Americans died, 6,000,000 Chinese slaughtered and Truman ended it. God bless him.
18
It is so sad that on a personal whim the President can reevaluate the past or the country and the lives of previous generations.
5
yes.
I see the president's visit as bearing witness to a human tragedy. No person who was not directly involved in the decision to drop the bomb can make a legitimate apology, and the same goes for every other tragedy our country has had a part in. Only those who make the decisions, support those decisions and carry out the actions are in a position to apologize. When it comes to wars, all people suffer and all are responsible for their actions and reactions. The best any of us can do is bear witness to past tragedies and work to prevent future ones.
4
The sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers of those killed at Hiroshima were guilty of some of the worst war crimes the world has ever seen. Nazi sadism pales in comparison to the behavior of Japanese men towards POWs, the Chinese, and the Koreans. Furthermore, modern Germany has apologized and paid restitution to its victims. Modern Japan is still obfuscating and engaging in historical revisionism. This revisionism claims Asians needed the Japanese to liberate them from colonialists, never mind that the worst atrocities were committed against these Asians they supposedly intended to liberate.
President Obama insists on making legacy statements while getting nothing in return. The condition of human rights in Cuba got worse after his recognition. Vietnam did nothing for human rights in exchange for our arms, and Japan should have been forced to acknowledge its crimes in exchange for this visit.
I applaud the wisdom and vision of Harry Truman and wish for modern politicians with the same gifts.
President Obama insists on making legacy statements while getting nothing in return. The condition of human rights in Cuba got worse after his recognition. Vietnam did nothing for human rights in exchange for our arms, and Japan should have been forced to acknowledge its crimes in exchange for this visit.
I applaud the wisdom and vision of Harry Truman and wish for modern politicians with the same gifts.
17
As a veteran who voted for Obama, twice, I wish I could now take my votes back. Despite what the radical anti-military types, chiefly on the far left, say this is a knife to the back of all US veterans, especially those few who are left who had to endure and fight the bloody Pacific Campaign. This visit is bad bad bad and the only ones who win by it are the far right of Japan, who use the bombs to foster a Japanese victim complex and the radical leftist who think the US military is evil. Obama is free to be political now he is not running for office and this is what we get. What a shame he is to the US right now
10
Now you can vote for Donald Trump who is delighted to see a resurgence of Japanese militarism by the Abe regime.
2
I will miss President Obama when he leaves office.
A kind, thoughtful, highly-intelligent, and brave man. I think he is our finest national leader in my 60+ years.
A kind, thoughtful, highly-intelligent, and brave man. I think he is our finest national leader in my 60+ years.
17
Are you deluded or in a hero-worship mode? Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon- all for better or worse moved the world far greater than the incumbent and race relations have never been at a lower point in US history.
2
Read Japan’s own account of the war, ‘Japan’s Longest Day’, published in the 1960s. Even after both atomic bombs were dropped and the Soviets declared war on Japan the Supreme War Council was still undecided on whether to surrender, as members of the Japanese military were content to see the destruction of Japan as long as they could kill Americans in the process. In an unprecedented move the Supreme War Council asked the Emperor to attend a meeting, where Hirohito stated that he supported the decision to surrender. A coup by some members of the Japanese military was planned and attempted, but it was down and Hirohito eventually broadcast the surrender to the nation
I look for references to this book in any recent publications on the use of the atomic bombs, and if it is not present largely discount them.
I look for references to this book in any recent publications on the use of the atomic bombs, and if it is not present largely discount them.
8
Good point made, too many people today are uneducated in the last days of the war against Japan- the leaders wanted to fight to the death, atomin bomb or no atomic bomb!
2
WE should apologize to a country that bombed us unmercifully and without provocation, caused the deaths of many thousands soldiers and civilians for years, committed a huge number of recorded atrocities?
And they are upset that we used a weapon (to be sure horrific and hopefully never ever seen or used again) that actually saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and Japanese?
Yes, it was awful, yes, it was terrible, yes, the war could have gone on for many months with apocalyptic destruction on both sides - but it was necessary.
Finally, I trust we are all spared the heated and specious denunciations as being hateful, war mongering Americans by the present day kindly "anti every Americans do or have done to others in the last 100,000 years of so has been devious, horrible, and futile) Americans"!
Am I missing something?
And they are upset that we used a weapon (to be sure horrific and hopefully never ever seen or used again) that actually saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans and Japanese?
Yes, it was awful, yes, it was terrible, yes, the war could have gone on for many months with apocalyptic destruction on both sides - but it was necessary.
Finally, I trust we are all spared the heated and specious denunciations as being hateful, war mongering Americans by the present day kindly "anti every Americans do or have done to others in the last 100,000 years of so has been devious, horrible, and futile) Americans"!
Am I missing something?
7
You are missing that President Obama did not apologize for dropping the bomb. Read his speech.
1
Spot on!
1
What about the death that came at the hands of Japan's army across Asia? The atomic bombs kill quickly; the Japanese armies killed slowly, methodically, and ruthlessly across Asia. Is the atomic bomb any worse than what the Japanese army did?
11
Today, May 27, 2016 is a day that will live in infamy, as surely as December 6, 1941 will.
5
December 6, 1941 was not a say of anything. The attack on Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941. My parents watched the planes flying over Oahu.
1
Yeah, I stand corrected. I was thinking of August 6 1945. Sorry.
1
President Obama embracing and shaking hands with Hiroshima survivors is the iconic moment, a testimony to reconciliation between those devastated by nuclear attack and the generation that hopes to live in peace..
11
Thank god my grandfathers , both sides, lived through the horrors of World War II. If either had not made it I wouldnt be here. Most of their friends were cut down. The japanese did so many bad things during the war horrific unspeakable things. To even accept this apology is a mockery of our dead. This is not OK and japan should know better than to accept this. They should thank the USA for the bomb and preventing Russia and China from taking more of their land. They owe us their country and sovereignty and the preservation of their culture by ending the war quickly. Obama is way out of line here.
6
Really?! Because the Japanese did some horrific things that justifies that slaughter of 160,000 people and hundreds of thousands more sickened by radiation and living with its aftermaths, including succeeding generations harmed by genetic defects?!
Sorry, but nothing the Japanese did was on the scale of the carnage the U.S. wrought on Hiroshima and Nagasaki-- and, it remains unjustified, immoral, and unwarranted.
We need to drop our blinders from seeing the death and destruction that U.S. has caused and is still causing around the globe.
It's hard, though, for people living at the center of an imperialistic empire to see that!
-------------------------------------
Note: Even on smaller scales, the U.S. has done many thing similar to those Japanese atrocities-- read up on the history of the U.S. occupation of the Philippines; our actions in Centra America; our chemical bombings with Agent Orange in Vietnam and white phosphorus in Iraq; etc.
And, this doesn't even begin to touch upon the decimation of Native Americans and the enslavement of blacks!
There's much to apologize for, pay reparations for, and change our ways for. A hypocritical speech by the presider-in-chief of drone warfare goes very little towards atoning for America's sins and evil--or putting us on a path of peace and respect.
Sorry, but nothing the Japanese did was on the scale of the carnage the U.S. wrought on Hiroshima and Nagasaki-- and, it remains unjustified, immoral, and unwarranted.
We need to drop our blinders from seeing the death and destruction that U.S. has caused and is still causing around the globe.
It's hard, though, for people living at the center of an imperialistic empire to see that!
-------------------------------------
Note: Even on smaller scales, the U.S. has done many thing similar to those Japanese atrocities-- read up on the history of the U.S. occupation of the Philippines; our actions in Centra America; our chemical bombings with Agent Orange in Vietnam and white phosphorus in Iraq; etc.
And, this doesn't even begin to touch upon the decimation of Native Americans and the enslavement of blacks!
There's much to apologize for, pay reparations for, and change our ways for. A hypocritical speech by the presider-in-chief of drone warfare goes very little towards atoning for America's sins and evil--or putting us on a path of peace and respect.
Obama did not apologize.
1
This is kind of hypocritical from a commnader in chief who is been in charge while we are increasing military tensions in Europe against Russia by adding defense sytems in Rumania and beefing up NATO presence in the Baltics which all will only serve to ignite a new nuclear arms race in the end. And how about demanding that Israel get rid of its nukes?
5
Not "kind of" hypocritical! It is hypocritical.
We all need to banish the weak, vague, non-committal phrase "kind of" from our vocabularies (along with "sort of").
We all need to banish the weak, vague, non-committal phrase "kind of" from our vocabularies (along with "sort of").
1
How do you compare attacking Pearl Harbor to dropping a Nuclear Bomb on a civilian population?
We are in denial.
We are in denial.
3
Specious at best, idiotic at worst.
For those who deride our President for being too soft on Japan, may I point out that Mr. Trump has advocated we give them nukes for their own defense.
6
Zealots of the more-American-than-thou (and me) Republican Party suffer the classic tragic flaw: punishable pride. We must prevent their arrogance from infecting our USA. I address Republican extremists, not the dwindling number of that party's moderates.
I heard parts of President Obama's speech on NPR driving into work this morning. He expressed a sense of empathy that I believe meant far more to the Japanese, and to all the world's people, than could have a mere apology.
10
"Mr. Obama also saw the visit as a testament to mankind’s ability to forge beyond even the most intense of enmities."
Mankind?
Hello NYT: It's 2016 -- many, many years after most people stopped calling humanity "mankind."
Mankind?
Hello NYT: It's 2016 -- many, many years after most people stopped calling humanity "mankind."
Natalia - what did the President actually say in his speech?
It is a notion of chivalrous romanticism that civilians possess a natural immunity from the ravages of war.. Yet the death of young soldiers is noble — “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” In fact, both are part of the same great cultural obscenity that is war.
The use of chemicals and biological agents in antiquity by Hittites, Greeks and Mongols has been recorded. Considering terrorism and area denial as legitimate tactics, the Japanese had used plague infested fleas and phosgene gas, on direct orders by Hirohito.
Two or three generations after the end of WWII the thoroughly militaristic nature of Japan has been downplayed and nearly forgotten. Yet Prime Minister Abe continues to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo are promoted to kami and venerated as divine.
Forgotten also is the fact that Emperor Hirohito issued and order during the Battle of Saipan that all Japanese citizens should commit suicide rather than surrender and would thus be granted the same spiritual honor in the afterlife as fallen soldiers.
Rather than being some kind of unique crime against humanity, the use of atomic weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki may more accurately be described as a coup de grace, ultimately sparing countless lives on both sides.
The use of chemicals and biological agents in antiquity by Hittites, Greeks and Mongols has been recorded. Considering terrorism and area denial as legitimate tactics, the Japanese had used plague infested fleas and phosgene gas, on direct orders by Hirohito.
Two or three generations after the end of WWII the thoroughly militaristic nature of Japan has been downplayed and nearly forgotten. Yet Prime Minister Abe continues to visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo are promoted to kami and venerated as divine.
Forgotten also is the fact that Emperor Hirohito issued and order during the Battle of Saipan that all Japanese citizens should commit suicide rather than surrender and would thus be granted the same spiritual honor in the afterlife as fallen soldiers.
Rather than being some kind of unique crime against humanity, the use of atomic weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki may more accurately be described as a coup de grace, ultimately sparing countless lives on both sides.
8
Ignore history at your peril.
The Japanese Emperor in 1890 declared the following: All children would be taught in "a system of education that focused on worshipful obedience to the Emperor, sacrifice to the Nation, warrior virtues, and military training."
This COLLECTIVIST idea is what created Imperial Warlike Japan in the 20th century. This was the dominant philosophy of the entire nation of Japan during WW2. And it was this philosophy that gestated the dropping of the two atomic bombs - the first, to demonstrate America's power against an entire nation governed as a Military force (Japanese were told to fight to the last infant when the Americans invaded); the second, because the nation refused to believe the first was not an accident (reports to the Army suggested a bomb had hit a gas main).
Read more details at: https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2007-winter/american-victory...
The Japanese Emperor in 1890 declared the following: All children would be taught in "a system of education that focused on worshipful obedience to the Emperor, sacrifice to the Nation, warrior virtues, and military training."
This COLLECTIVIST idea is what created Imperial Warlike Japan in the 20th century. This was the dominant philosophy of the entire nation of Japan during WW2. And it was this philosophy that gestated the dropping of the two atomic bombs - the first, to demonstrate America's power against an entire nation governed as a Military force (Japanese were told to fight to the last infant when the Americans invaded); the second, because the nation refused to believe the first was not an accident (reports to the Army suggested a bomb had hit a gas main).
Read more details at: https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2007-winter/american-victory...
4
Impossible to think of the repub candidate being able to execute this kind of trip with the subtlety and nuance that POTUS has. Can't help but consider that; be grateful for Obama; anxious about the future.
13
Hugging is quite uncommon in the Japanese culture, especially the older generation. This shows the intensity of emotion
16
Our president can talk a fine line but he is the man who pushed for this country to modernize our nuclear weapons to the tune of a trillion dollars. He is quick to drone folks and given the right situation would use a nuke in a first strike situation. The story of Hiroshima was that many civilians died, the Jaoanese were already defeated and the bombing was probably done to keep the Soviets at bay. Our pivot to Asia increases the tension with China and also the use of a nuke. Hiroshima taught us nothing.
4
Haitch76, your claim that "he is the man who pushed for this country to modernize our nuclear weapons to the tune of a trillion dollars" is rank revisionist history. In the fall of 2010, Obama was seeking necessary Senate approval of a nuclear arms reduction (START) treaty with Russia negotiated with then-President Medvedey. Jon Kyl, the Arizona Senate Republican leader got his conference to block it pending large expenditures to update the remaining American nuclear arsenal. Obama did not want to spend that much money for modernization but he did it to compromise because he believed the reduction of nuclear weapons was worth it.
1
Crossing the Atlantic in a British troopship in 1944 was the worst 12 days in my life. When the war in Germany ended the combat engineer Battalion that I was in was moving from central Germany through Marseille to the far East to participate in the invasion of Japan. We had gotten as far as Henri Chapelle, Belgium when the bomb was dropped. I was going home. There was no other thought in my head. I suspect that everybody inn that troop moment was of a same mind. It is very easy for those who are far removed temporally and spatially to make difficult decisions.
11
All you have to do is go to the Tokyo War Museum to realize an apology would be totally inappropriate: They have discreetly hidden Tojo's grave, and in all of the exhibits there are narratives blaming the US blockade, casually omitting Japanese Imperialism, starting with the 1937 occupation of China/Manchuria, not to mention the atrocities committed against Americans, Chinese and Koreans.
9
Beautifully said Mr President. I am going to miss this President, but I have faith he will continue to be a great humanitarian after his tenure in the White House.
11
Well done President Obama. I think it is now long overdue that the Japanese follow the Germans excellent example in admitting the past and apologizing to those who were harmed – rather than expunging the historical record as though the late 30's and early to mid 40's never happened.
9
When I was a young boy the horrors of nuclear weaponry first hit home when I read this passage from Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos':
"The energy contained in these weapons — genies of death, patiently awaiting the rubbing of the lamps — totals far more than 10,000 megatons; but, with the destruction concentrated efficiently, not over six years but over a few hours. A blockbuster for every family on the planet; a World War II every second for the length of a lazy afternoon."
Those words were written in 1980, a mere 35 years after Hiroshima. And yet here we are now, as far into the future as he was then from Hiroshima, and Sagan's words still ring true. According to Ploughshares, there are 15,375 nuclear weapons in the world today, of which 93% are possessed by the US and Russia. Surely there is room to bring this number down? What need is there, in the 21st century, for the capability to inflict death on this scale on anyone, anywhere?
I'm glad that Shigeaki Mori and the other survivors have been able to live in a world where nuclear weapons haven't ever been used again. I hope Mr. Obama, now and in his post-presidency, will work hard to keep it that way.
"The energy contained in these weapons — genies of death, patiently awaiting the rubbing of the lamps — totals far more than 10,000 megatons; but, with the destruction concentrated efficiently, not over six years but over a few hours. A blockbuster for every family on the planet; a World War II every second for the length of a lazy afternoon."
Those words were written in 1980, a mere 35 years after Hiroshima. And yet here we are now, as far into the future as he was then from Hiroshima, and Sagan's words still ring true. According to Ploughshares, there are 15,375 nuclear weapons in the world today, of which 93% are possessed by the US and Russia. Surely there is room to bring this number down? What need is there, in the 21st century, for the capability to inflict death on this scale on anyone, anywhere?
I'm glad that Shigeaki Mori and the other survivors have been able to live in a world where nuclear weapons haven't ever been used again. I hope Mr. Obama, now and in his post-presidency, will work hard to keep it that way.
7
I was at a technical meeting in Japan once when a Japanese colleague next to me asked why we had dropped the Bomb. I said I was four years old at the time and had no idea why. But I think those alive today cannot comprehend the difficult circumstances under which the decision to drop it was made.
4
What was that quote from Einstein? "I don't know how the next world war will be fought, but I know how the one after that will be fought: with sticks."
9
Donald Trump has said a lot of scary things but his comment that it's time for South Korea and Japan to develop nuclear arsenals I got very scared. As far as I know he is the first Presidential candidate since the Cold War to speak about adding nuclear weapons to our fragile world. I hope he doesn't get near the button.
2
What happened in Hiroshima was horrible. BUT, let's not forget the beheading and cannibalistic treatment of our American prisoner's by the Japanese soldiers. Read Fly Boys, by James Bradley or Unbroken.
8
So the proper response to Japanese barbarity is to show the entire world that America is infinitely MORE barbaric? In this, we surely succeeded and unfortunately, the two atomic bombings were but a prelude to America's lengthy trail of death and destruction.
So sorry but those bombs do end the war. War many suffer. You think everyone can learn better ways to do things instead of wars. No one wants to be disgruntled and taken over by anyone else, not even their spouse.
5
This is Nina Castro:
In the early 1970s, I worked for a Japanese governmental office in the US. As a 20 something, it was culturally exciting, and WWII, was known to me only as a history lesson. I was immersed in the culture by their design, as they approached the post-War world, one part, PR machine, one part Reconstructionist, and my favorite part, cultural ambassadors. One day, as I took a customer service phone call, from an older, American male voice, I was asked if I was American (not unusual because people wanted to be able to speak English). This time was different, when I said "yes", the tone changed and I was called a lot of things which can't be repeated here, by a voice that became choked, and told me I should be ashamed and the blood of many Americans was on my hands too. This happened quite a few more times in my years with this organization, and each time there was a collective awkwardness, which eventually became a sadness, which became a bond. For me, it was the most shocking, authentic history lesson: the men who called became my "fathers" and I could imagine the horrible things they endured even while rejecting their prescription for my behavior and indeed my future. Obviously, wars end, and in retrospect they will always be seen as futile until all human hearts are in sync. When I see a symbol of this, I don't disparage or analyze it. It's a step, just one.
In the early 1970s, I worked for a Japanese governmental office in the US. As a 20 something, it was culturally exciting, and WWII, was known to me only as a history lesson. I was immersed in the culture by their design, as they approached the post-War world, one part, PR machine, one part Reconstructionist, and my favorite part, cultural ambassadors. One day, as I took a customer service phone call, from an older, American male voice, I was asked if I was American (not unusual because people wanted to be able to speak English). This time was different, when I said "yes", the tone changed and I was called a lot of things which can't be repeated here, by a voice that became choked, and told me I should be ashamed and the blood of many Americans was on my hands too. This happened quite a few more times in my years with this organization, and each time there was a collective awkwardness, which eventually became a sadness, which became a bond. For me, it was the most shocking, authentic history lesson: the men who called became my "fathers" and I could imagine the horrible things they endured even while rejecting their prescription for my behavior and indeed my future. Obviously, wars end, and in retrospect they will always be seen as futile until all human hearts are in sync. When I see a symbol of this, I don't disparage or analyze it. It's a step, just one.
4
I like Obama, but spending many billions on "updating" the US nuclear force and continuing selling massive amounts of "conventional" weapons to so many countries including now Vietnam totally belies his sentiment in this speach.
5
So easy to analyze the game when the stadium has been emptied of the participants, and all we contemporaries have is our imagination, and "zero" experience of the perceptive events.
4
President Obama's public-relations trip to Hiroshima is yet another example of his tireless attempts at self-promotion, a mere gesture that rings hollow in light of his approving the modernization—the Pentagon term for making more lethal—the U.S. nuclear arsenal. A promise that the United States will shift to a no-first-strike doctrine would have more welcome, and an indication that the moral awakening the President referred to has taken place in his own mind.
4
I can assure you, that my father, who served in Patton's Third Army, and others in the US Military, were ever grateful for President Truman's courage to use the atomic bomb to eventually end the war. By my father's terms, the Japanese were not about to surrender - their willingness to die for their cause supports this contention. By any other measure, the number of 200,000, may have been low. So to presume otherwise is sadly an afterthought.
Meanwhile, my father would be grateful to President Obama, who has stood up to the forces of evil and reconciled with those who we once bitterly fought. To those who denigrate our President, it is you who bitterly fight to oppose the moral changes our President has sought during his presidency - from reducing the possibility of the destruction of humanity by weapons of mass destruction or global climate warming to Obamacare to a responsible effort to protect Israel from an Iranian nuclear holocaust. You need only to look at yourself in the mirror to see the hatred and vitriol look back at you with the same ugliness that this man seeks to overcome. May God bless America and may God bless President Barack Obama.
Meanwhile, my father would be grateful to President Obama, who has stood up to the forces of evil and reconciled with those who we once bitterly fought. To those who denigrate our President, it is you who bitterly fight to oppose the moral changes our President has sought during his presidency - from reducing the possibility of the destruction of humanity by weapons of mass destruction or global climate warming to Obamacare to a responsible effort to protect Israel from an Iranian nuclear holocaust. You need only to look at yourself in the mirror to see the hatred and vitriol look back at you with the same ugliness that this man seeks to overcome. May God bless America and may God bless President Barack Obama.
19
th issue was unconditional surrender
th japanese were bargaining to retain more autonomy , and th usa was adamant about being unconditional
had th japanese agreed to that, th bombs would not have been used
th japanese were bargaining to retain more autonomy , and th usa was adamant about being unconditional
had th japanese agreed to that, th bombs would not have been used
1
It's amazing that the same people who want to impose the Christian version of sharia law in the United States are so unforgiving. If I remember correctly, Christ had a few things to say about forgiveness. But the radical right know as much about Christ as they do about the Islam they hate so much.
By the way, the President did not apologize for Hiroshima. Read the article.
By the way, the President did not apologize for Hiroshima. Read the article.
19
Yet it is the United States that should beg forgiveness. Apart from massacring hundreds of thousands of people in the most horrifying way imaginable, Truman's act jump-started the nuclear arms race, which threatens earthly existence to this day.
Please give me an example of Christians wanting to impose their version of sharia law. Just one.
3
Not allowing a woman the right to decide what she wants to do with her own body is one. How about forbidding any type of sexual education in schools? Trying to deny men and women basic human rights because of their sexual preference or gender?
Right-wing Christians want to impose their 'values' on the rest (even those who don't believe) and those values are just as restrictive and narrow-minded as they claim sharia law is. The ultimate irony is that they're rallying around a man who has probably broken most if not all of the ten commandments.
How's that?
Right-wing Christians want to impose their 'values' on the rest (even those who don't believe) and those values are just as restrictive and narrow-minded as they claim sharia law is. The ultimate irony is that they're rallying around a man who has probably broken most if not all of the ten commandments.
How's that?
2
"Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed."
This language is so close to how we in the U.S. describe 9/11.
Here, for example, is the opening line of the 9/11 Commission Report: "Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States."
The cloudless morning, the sudden horror. If the President is saying Hiroshima and 9/11 are in any way equivalent, shame on him.
This language is so close to how we in the U.S. describe 9/11.
Here, for example, is the opening line of the 9/11 Commission Report: "Tuesday, September 11, 2001, dawned temperate and nearly cloudless in the eastern United States."
The cloudless morning, the sudden horror. If the President is saying Hiroshima and 9/11 are in any way equivalent, shame on him.
4
Yes Hiroshima more than likely felt like Sept 11 to the many children, women and elderly who perished that day. The cloud engulfed an entire city that day not just one block.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were acts of terrorism ..... attacks directed at civilian populations in order to achieve a political objective.
5
was th normandy invasion, which liberated france from th nazis, also an act of terrorism to achieve a political objective ?
2
and the Baatan Death March was a walk in the park.... and Nanking was 'date night' If it werent for the allies.. you would be speaking German Greg..
2
I have dead relatives at Normandy that helped to free your country.
2
It is more than a bit odd that a military aide to Obama with the "nuclear football" was likely nearby during the visit. The football is a case containing the materials needed for the President to authorize a nuclear attack.
3
I got up this morning at 3 AM to watch the president. There was nothing on the TV news channels so I watched NHK world news in English on the computer.
So remarkable-- watching the president's motorcade through the streets of Hiroshima with people waving from the side of the road and hearing Japanese newscasters interviewing survivors and young people about their memories and impressions. Seventy one years after unimaginable destruction and horror and I can watch former enemies half way around the world from my kitchen table. Since my dad was a sailor and entered Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped, I owe my existence to the bomb and at the same time, I'm connected to the old folks that President Obama encountered today.
I find the writers here tiresome who want to debate one fact of history or another to justify continuing animosity. If the dead could come back to us for one day, they would say-- "Let it go. Live your life, that is so precious in peace. It is ok with us that you found a way to friendship and negotiation with the descendents of those who could not." President Obama's speech was wonderful. He said the purpose of Hiroshima now is to be a symbol for humans to strive to evolve beyond terror and violence. I am not a fool to think that all terror will melt away. Neither is our president a foolish man. But the mere fact that good, kind people can find each other across national and religious boundaries is a power and force that cannot be extinguished.
So remarkable-- watching the president's motorcade through the streets of Hiroshima with people waving from the side of the road and hearing Japanese newscasters interviewing survivors and young people about their memories and impressions. Seventy one years after unimaginable destruction and horror and I can watch former enemies half way around the world from my kitchen table. Since my dad was a sailor and entered Hiroshima after the bomb was dropped, I owe my existence to the bomb and at the same time, I'm connected to the old folks that President Obama encountered today.
I find the writers here tiresome who want to debate one fact of history or another to justify continuing animosity. If the dead could come back to us for one day, they would say-- "Let it go. Live your life, that is so precious in peace. It is ok with us that you found a way to friendship and negotiation with the descendents of those who could not." President Obama's speech was wonderful. He said the purpose of Hiroshima now is to be a symbol for humans to strive to evolve beyond terror and violence. I am not a fool to think that all terror will melt away. Neither is our president a foolish man. But the mere fact that good, kind people can find each other across national and religious boundaries is a power and force that cannot be extinguished.
10
Thank you, Mr. President. Yes! Yes! We desperately need a "moral revolution!" Let's start by teaching our children, particularly our boys, social and emotional intelligence.
7
Two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. It happened. The results were far more devastating than anyone could imagine. What we knew about nuclear attack would barely fill a thimble in 1945 when compared to what we knew after the bombing.
The morals and ethics involved with the decision and the aftermath have never been laid to rest, but it doesn't matter. It happened; thousands of people died. It cannot be undone. The survivors tell stories that must be heard, yet are almost impossible to absorb. And we own that piece. Just We, the People, in a different time and national place.
President Obama's words were exactly on target. " But we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again."
That is not an apology; that is recognition that the power of that weapon must never be used again. It _is_ a shared responsibility, and must continue to be.
Yes, Fat Man and Little Boy ended the war. There is always a price and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a high price on all sides: human, moral, ethical, and even economic. What we learned must _never_ be set aside by bluster, bravado, and bullying.
President Obama did the right thing.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
The morals and ethics involved with the decision and the aftermath have never been laid to rest, but it doesn't matter. It happened; thousands of people died. It cannot be undone. The survivors tell stories that must be heard, yet are almost impossible to absorb. And we own that piece. Just We, the People, in a different time and national place.
President Obama's words were exactly on target. " But we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again."
That is not an apology; that is recognition that the power of that weapon must never be used again. It _is_ a shared responsibility, and must continue to be.
Yes, Fat Man and Little Boy ended the war. There is always a price and the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a high price on all sides: human, moral, ethical, and even economic. What we learned must _never_ be set aside by bluster, bravado, and bullying.
President Obama did the right thing.
http://wifelyperson.blogspot.com/
6
"Yes, Fat Man and Little Boy ended the war"
No they didn't. Truman's grudging acceptance of the Japanese Emperor ended the war and could have ended the war before either bomb was dropped.
That's not simply what I believe. It's not simply what Truman's entire military establishment believed. It is in fact, what TRUMAN himself believed, as he wrote in his diary.
He dropped two atomic bombs in the FULL knowledge they were unnecessary. That certainly figures among the handful of most heinous acts ever committed.
No they didn't. Truman's grudging acceptance of the Japanese Emperor ended the war and could have ended the war before either bomb was dropped.
That's not simply what I believe. It's not simply what Truman's entire military establishment believed. It is in fact, what TRUMAN himself believed, as he wrote in his diary.
He dropped two atomic bombs in the FULL knowledge they were unnecessary. That certainly figures among the handful of most heinous acts ever committed.
Moral revolution? The US, before I was born, unleashed unnecessarily two nuclear bombs when our military had already nearly destroyed much of Japan by fire bombing. We could have waited in a blockade and Japan would have surrendered.
Moral revolution? Mr. Obama has been the leading advocate for faceless killing of people by drone strikes.
Moral revolution? Mr. Obama has been the leading advocate for faceless killing of people by drone strikes.
5
They did not surrender after the first bomb. Read the historical texts.
2
The disconnect here is almost unfathomable - visiting Hiroshima and calling for a moral revolution while having committed to a trillion (that's right - a trillion) dollars in new nuclear weapons spending. This is a President who has set the stage for yet another endless arms race with endless spending while the United States literally crumbles around us. Better he should have held the ceremony at a nuclear arms factory which would have been an honest representation of his position on nuclear arms. Not even Bush and Cheney could match this level of disingenuousness.
6
I’m surprised the Japanese even let the hypocrite into the country. First he goes to Vietnam to sell them weapons of war and now the Arms Dealer in Chief is selling the Japanese the idea of nuclear free world while the US is starting a trillion dollar nuclear arm expansion.
8
Life is so messy.
Surely the atomic bombings were the darkest days in American history (even worse than the firebombings of the other major Japanese cities). 200,000+ old men, children, and women of an already defeated nation were incinerated so the United States could scare Stalin.
7
Thank God for Truman. If Obama was President we would still be fighting that war.
2
Incorrect. The fire bombing of Tokyo killed more people and the bombing of Dresden by the British was to scare Stalin. Stalin already know about the bomb because of Soviet spy working on the project and Truman told him on July 24, two weeks before Hiroshima.
2
They may have been defeated but they did not surrender after the first bomb dropped.
2
True nobility understands humility. Let us keep the candle of peace burning and remember the horror.
May all nation's leaders understand the effect of nuclear arms and call for its banishment from this earth.
May all nation's leaders understand the effect of nuclear arms and call for its banishment from this earth.
8
For all those inquiring about Japan and its apologies.
There's this thing called the Internet.
Seems pretty cool.
So, I searched "Japanese apology for Pearl Harbor"
Try it!
(again, it's called the Internet and people can actually learn stuff - cool right?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by...
There's this thing called the Internet.
Seems pretty cool.
So, I searched "Japanese apology for Pearl Harbor"
Try it!
(again, it's called the Internet and people can actually learn stuff - cool right?)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by...
4
Thank you, Mr. President, for demonstrating that recognition does not equal apology. Japan has paid the steepest national price for its evil. China, Korea and the Philippines may pethaps violently disagree but their countries did not drop the bombs that incinerated the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
An American president visits a nuclear ground zero and perhaps half of his countrymen are angry about it. This refusal to remember the past and consider the future are symptomatic of our national disconnect. Japanese citizens are still suffering 70 years later. Surely their pain should not be excluded from the calculus of the president's visit.
An American president visits a nuclear ground zero and perhaps half of his countrymen are angry about it. This refusal to remember the past and consider the future are symptomatic of our national disconnect. Japanese citizens are still suffering 70 years later. Surely their pain should not be excluded from the calculus of the president's visit.
9
It was tragic what the Japanese government allowed to happen to a quarter million of its civilians 71 years ago. But the U.S. long ago apologized for the Democratic President Truman's crimes against humanity, by spending trillions of U.S. dollars to rebuild Japan, which now has one of the world's strongest economies.
11
trillions ?
is it in th nature of ameicans to exaggerate everything ?
Between 1946 and 1952, Washington invested $2.2 billion — or $18 billion in real 21st-century dollars adjusted for inflation — in Japan’s reconstruction effort.
is it in th nature of ameicans to exaggerate everything ?
Between 1946 and 1952, Washington invested $2.2 billion — or $18 billion in real 21st-century dollars adjusted for inflation — in Japan’s reconstruction effort.
Since the day I was born in February, 1943, there has not been one day in which a war wasn't raging somewhere on this planet. Not one. Our species will either end war, or war will end species.
10
The thing is Cody, there may not have been a day in the last thousand years when there wasn't a war somewhere. This is who we are. And our species is expanding at an ever increasing rate.
2
Should we also apologize to Germany for the fire bombing of Dresden, in which more people were killed than in Hiroshima? Yup, let's just go aver to some shrine of Hitler and tell them how sorry we are. Then we can go to Japanese, who murdered and raped their way across Asia and tell them his sorry we were that we had to drop a couple of big bombs on their country to get them to stop doing that?
13
Did any other President make so many "epochal" visits to other countries in his last year?
Maybe there were reasons other Presidents didn't do it?
But there's certainly an obvious reason why the current President does it.
Maybe there were reasons other Presidents didn't do it?
But there's certainly an obvious reason why the current President does it.
4
What a decent, compassionate, respectable, respectful leader we have in President Obama. He represents the best in us. Don't let him followed by the man who represents the worst in us.
42
We have embraced, helped restore after we won the war, become close friends with the country that systematically and with deadly intent to rid the world of all Jews, undesirables, many Poles and others deemed "unsuitable". Yes, they apologized for all the agony and destruction that they visited upon the world. And we accepted that apology and said all is forgiven and we will move on and never mention this horrible war again. And we are now kissing friends.
Yet, we hold the Japanese to be required to apologize for an act of war that, IMO, is demanded by many Americans not because they started the Pacific war, but because it was America. As if the vicions bombing in European countries was nothing in comparision. And then we dropped two bombs on their cities decimating vast areas, releasing cancer causing radiation, killing hundreds of people and still we are demanding they apologize.
All while we think their cars are great (and they are) and we love their electronics and all the things they produce that have added much to our lives.
However, the fact that our sitting president visited that site in Hiroshima, some people are against what he has done to try and show that we recognize what a terrible thing nuclear war can be.
Yet, we hold the Japanese to be required to apologize for an act of war that, IMO, is demanded by many Americans not because they started the Pacific war, but because it was America. As if the vicions bombing in European countries was nothing in comparision. And then we dropped two bombs on their cities decimating vast areas, releasing cancer causing radiation, killing hundreds of people and still we are demanding they apologize.
All while we think their cars are great (and they are) and we love their electronics and all the things they produce that have added much to our lives.
However, the fact that our sitting president visited that site in Hiroshima, some people are against what he has done to try and show that we recognize what a terrible thing nuclear war can be.
1
Sajwert, Your "opinion" that America started the was in the Pacific is demonstrably false. The savage Japanese slaughters in China, Manchuria and Korea are what started it.
5
Read the sentence please. I did not write that we started the war but that the Japanese did. Obviously, I wrote the sentence incorrectly or failed to place a comma where it should have been.
I am far too old to state such a foolish statement.
I am far too old to state such a foolish statement.
Moral Revolution starts with each individual.
Today is a perfect day to exercise that part of oneself.
Start by not knee jerking at everything the President does.
We are 71 years from the tragedy of WW2.
Japan is our steady ally.
Our soldiers are based on their soil.
Life has progressed and moving past old transgressions is possible.
Let light and love flow into your thoughts and deeds today.
Turn from vile impulses. See what happens to your feelings and ability to enjoy your life.
Relax.
Breathe.
Call your mother or a dear friend.
You are a moral revolutionary.
Today is a perfect day to exercise that part of oneself.
Start by not knee jerking at everything the President does.
We are 71 years from the tragedy of WW2.
Japan is our steady ally.
Our soldiers are based on their soil.
Life has progressed and moving past old transgressions is possible.
Let light and love flow into your thoughts and deeds today.
Turn from vile impulses. See what happens to your feelings and ability to enjoy your life.
Relax.
Breathe.
Call your mother or a dear friend.
You are a moral revolutionary.
12
Maybe Obama could also visit Nanjing. This would go a long way in improving the relationship with China on a more human and emotional level, and it wouldn't offend anyone - politically it would be an absolute slam-dunk.
8
Perhaps Mr. Abe visiting Nanjing would have the effect you wish. It was Japan, not the U.S., who invaded and pillaged in China.
2
Yes....but. Japan has been our fervent ally since the end of WWII. China not so. In the world of international diplomacy, a visit by Obama to Nanjing would be seen as a slap in the face to Japan. More appropriate would be a visit by Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Kerry. This sends the same message, without the overt insult.
1
When he stops eating meat and shows compassion for the unborn, then he will have moral credibility. And when he stops needling Russia, then he will be doing something to avoid WW3.
Otherwise, we all knows he talks well.
How about walking rhe walk?
Otherwise, we all knows he talks well.
How about walking rhe walk?
2
When you come back from your alternate reality, please pay attention to what's actually happening.
6
I find my self humbled by the actions and words of my President. Not many years this 69 year old could say that.
War is the greatest evil, and could be eliminated by a strong world court and and a system of laws that forces all to come peacefully to fix a problem.
But then, the powerful would be the equal of the small and powerless, so war continues.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene
War is the greatest evil, and could be eliminated by a strong world court and and a system of laws that forces all to come peacefully to fix a problem.
But then, the powerful would be the equal of the small and powerless, so war continues.
Hugh Massengill, Eugene
9
So which was the greater evil, Japan starting the conflagration or us, ending it.
1
Outstanding read is John Hersey's HIROSHIMA.
Obama's militarism is hidden and secret....drones, etc.
Obama's militarism is hidden and secret....drones, etc.
4
Barack Obama is the most enlightened president in many decades.
27
LOL! That is bizarre!
1
Okay, and what's the good news?
2
Obama's gesture goes against what his administration is doing. Rather than reducing the US nuclear arsenal, the US is spending a trillion dollars over thirty years to make the arsenal more deadly.
But American kids have to drink tap water laced with lead and middle America is suffering from rising suicide rates and drug addiction because their despair for their future.
Shameful. Yes Obama faces a recalcitrant Congress, but I believe it is Obama's signature on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 that authorized the trillion dollars down the tube to maintain the US nuclear arsenal.
But American kids have to drink tap water laced with lead and middle America is suffering from rising suicide rates and drug addiction because their despair for their future.
Shameful. Yes Obama faces a recalcitrant Congress, but I believe it is Obama's signature on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 that authorized the trillion dollars down the tube to maintain the US nuclear arsenal.
6
The Japanese are not victims. They strove to achieve world domination along with the Germans. The conduct of Japanese troops before and during World War II was amoral and horrendous. Dropping the bombs necessary to avoid a US invasion of Japan and end WWII was absolutely the right course of action.
20
Yes, but among the killed and wounded were many innocent people-- children, elderly, women. I think the gesture was a good one. I don't think it is weakness to acknowledge the tragedy and suffering it caused, even if necessary to end the war.
1
hear hear
th books, th rape of nanking, and th chilling, unit 731, reveal th japanese military for what they were
th books, th rape of nanking, and th chilling, unit 731, reveal th japanese military for what they were
1
They're not victims insofar as you believe that all Japanese people were responsible for Imperial Japanese policy.
They are victims in the sense that the individual people that perished all had their own stories and their own choices as they understood them, which are hard to know.
I prefer to think these unfortunate souls were victims, but victims of war, of their own country's mistakes, and to some degree the Allies' unwillingness (in my mind justified) to try another way.
They are victims in the sense that the individual people that perished all had their own stories and their own choices as they understood them, which are hard to know.
I prefer to think these unfortunate souls were victims, but victims of war, of their own country's mistakes, and to some degree the Allies' unwillingness (in my mind justified) to try another way.
1
I feel that when I am an old man, young people will come up to me and ask, "what was it like to be alive when Obama was president?" I will answer that I took it for granted, and I will point to this picture.
24
I have a better idea, Mr. Obama. Instead of making empty speeches in Japan, work to rid the world or these diabolical weapons--as the law demands, instead of pledging one TRILLION DOLLARS to the development of MORE nuclear weapons and turning a blind eye to Israel's illegal arsenal, which it threatens to use to end all life on earth, an official policy known as The Samson Option.
6
@Voice - Actually, the law does NOT demand anything. In fact Congress became less interested in passing legislation for further decreasing weaponry once Russia took over Crimea and invaded Ukraine. There is also the fact that the President is privy to a lot more information about national security that you or me or the average citizen, and one of his main responsibilities is to do everything possible to defend the US and its citizens.
2
You are evidently not informed about the explicit terms of the NPT. Nuclear powers are obliged to make all good faith efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons of mass destruction. That's the LAW. Does investing a trillion dollars in new nuclear weapons sound to you like an effort to eliminate them?
Just because the United States violates laws with impunity, doesn't mean the laws don't exist. Israel doesn't have this problem, because they refused to sign the NPT and have stridently persisted as a rogue nuclear terror state since the 1950s.
Just because the United States violates laws with impunity, doesn't mean the laws don't exist. Israel doesn't have this problem, because they refused to sign the NPT and have stridently persisted as a rogue nuclear terror state since the 1950s.
An 80 year-olds perspective.
We can never stop calling out for moral revolution and what better place that Hiroshima? 70 years was far too long to wait.
Sadly, America is in a snort, grunt and muscle-flex mode pushed hard by political intransigence and an I'll-say-whatever-gets-the-most-votes mentality. Seeking calm and common sense is not for this time, but there are a lot of Americans who would welcome it and in my case, vote for it.
We can never stop calling out for moral revolution and what better place that Hiroshima? 70 years was far too long to wait.
Sadly, America is in a snort, grunt and muscle-flex mode pushed hard by political intransigence and an I'll-say-whatever-gets-the-most-votes mentality. Seeking calm and common sense is not for this time, but there are a lot of Americans who would welcome it and in my case, vote for it.
294
I too would vote for it, if we only had candidates who weren't neocons...... A shame we don't have a real choice.
This is where Obama has been at his best. If only the GOP had not been so hellbent on obstructing everything he did, and purely out of spite, we would have made more progress these past 8 years. Another shame.
This is where Obama has been at his best. If only the GOP had not been so hellbent on obstructing everything he did, and purely out of spite, we would have made more progress these past 8 years. Another shame.
1
You must not have ever gone to Pearl Harbor Hawaii
A wonderful gesture and a great speech. I am glad I voted for him, and I am glad he is our president. The people currently vying for his job are lesser people by far.
15
The US occupation of Japan started with a high ambition for installing a democratic system but soon changed its goal to make it a bulwark against the communism by reinstating most of politicians and bureaucrats who served for the imperial Japan including Kishi, Abe's grandfather, in the postwar government. Which as well as keeping Hirohito on the throne put it under taboo to this day to discuss in public how and why the war cabinet functioned as it did. The lesson they learned from this experience is follow the US if grudgingly and this habit is gradually fixated to the point we now follow willingly. This can be seen from the fact that the US consistently squashed postwar PMs who dared to disobey and I would say it is now culminated in Abe's ascendency. A strange thing is the more conservative the more obedient, the more democratic the more assertive.
I understand Obama's high moral standard. But Abe is the worst partner he could find to cooperate with. Since majority of Japanese seem to welcome his performance in Hiroshima, I am afraid he might be helping Abe to suppress our fledgeling democracy, constitutionalism and the freedom of expression to start with.
Obama's visit to Hiroshima is a bit too early. He could wait until we realize how and why we invited this havoc.
I understand Obama's high moral standard. But Abe is the worst partner he could find to cooperate with. Since majority of Japanese seem to welcome his performance in Hiroshima, I am afraid he might be helping Abe to suppress our fledgeling democracy, constitutionalism and the freedom of expression to start with.
Obama's visit to Hiroshima is a bit too early. He could wait until we realize how and why we invited this havoc.
7
President Obama's speech condemning nuclear weapons at Hiroshima doesn't match his actions.
His deal with Iran not only allows a terrorist country to develop nuclear weapons but actually enables them. All Americans will face the consequences of his actions long after he leaves office.
His deal with Iran not only allows a terrorist country to develop nuclear weapons but actually enables them. All Americans will face the consequences of his actions long after he leaves office.
4
@Don - Sorry, your comment is contradictory. The agreement with Iran ensures that they don't develop nuclear weapons, as they have already complied with the initial points of the agreement by relinquishing materials needed to develop weaponry. And global sanctions remain in place due to their recent non-nuclear missile tests.
5
The deal with Iran was the only proper way to fully deter that country from obtaining nuclear weapons. Getting them re-integrated into the world community will/has encouraged them to stop their program. North Korea is the perfect example of taking the other route, and you can see where that has gotten us.
2
There is a pictorial of Hiroshima and Detroit, before and after the war. I'm not sure we won anything. How much longer should the US be the worlds police force? We expend far too much treasure and effort on defense and far too little on our own people. Humanity will go extinct, I'm not sure if we will go quick via thermonuclear war or from neglect of our planet.
6
I am saddened by the voices in these comments that condemned the brave and yet humble step taken by the President of the United States of America to recognize the horrible destruction caused by nuclear bombs.
The greatness of America lies not in its ability to beat others into submission but in building a future for succeeding generations that is safe from mass destruction. That destructive approach is what the terrorists employ - if you don't follow their ways, you will be destroyed. Winning a war merely puts a temporary stop to the invaders. Building peace and friendships help ensure that wars don't happen.
Nobody is condoning the atrocities that the Japanese committed during WWII and no amount of whitewashing in the Japanese history books will remove that stain. It will not be forgotten and should not be forgotten for all the valuable lessons it teaches future generations about the dangers of unbridled ambitions and power. But we must move forward to a more peaceful and a better world.
It is an extremely complex task being a superpower with the job of maintaining peace and prosperity around the world. There are rogue nations and heads of nations that continue to play the nuclear arms card. There are heads of terrorist organization that want to put their hands on nuclear arms. There is no simple solution.
The greatness of America lies not in its ability to beat others into submission but in building a future for succeeding generations that is safe from mass destruction. That destructive approach is what the terrorists employ - if you don't follow their ways, you will be destroyed. Winning a war merely puts a temporary stop to the invaders. Building peace and friendships help ensure that wars don't happen.
Nobody is condoning the atrocities that the Japanese committed during WWII and no amount of whitewashing in the Japanese history books will remove that stain. It will not be forgotten and should not be forgotten for all the valuable lessons it teaches future generations about the dangers of unbridled ambitions and power. But we must move forward to a more peaceful and a better world.
It is an extremely complex task being a superpower with the job of maintaining peace and prosperity around the world. There are rogue nations and heads of nations that continue to play the nuclear arms card. There are heads of terrorist organization that want to put their hands on nuclear arms. There is no simple solution.
14
If the U.S. doesn't encourage change in its former enemies, change will never come. It is to Obama's great credit that he has moved to normalize relations with Cuba, Vietnam, and Iran, while formally visiting Japan and showing them the respect he has for them as our ally.
Nixon and Kissinger were mere pretenders by comparison, despite what they've written about themselves.
Nixon and Kissinger were mere pretenders by comparison, despite what they've written about themselves.
1
An uncle of mine, my mother's favorite brother, was captured at the fall of Corregidor. He was transferred to a Japanese prisoner of war camp and brutally treated until the end of the war. This has been part of my family lore since I was a child.
This morning I see the photo of a tall, distinguished looking African-American man embracing a small, elderly Japanese man. Thank you Mr. President. With a simple humane gesture you have helped me and, I hope, many others draw a line under the years of simmering bitterness. Thank you also to the New York Times and your photographer, Doug Mills for publishing this photo.
Christina B. Lehrich
Brookline, MA
This morning I see the photo of a tall, distinguished looking African-American man embracing a small, elderly Japanese man. Thank you Mr. President. With a simple humane gesture you have helped me and, I hope, many others draw a line under the years of simmering bitterness. Thank you also to the New York Times and your photographer, Doug Mills for publishing this photo.
Christina B. Lehrich
Brookline, MA
16
i knew guys who were in that death march
they feel differently
they feel differently
1
Ah, the old end of term World tour of speeches that Presidents make of their ideals that they did nothing about during their tenure and that get everyone misty eyed. Here's what he actually did:
"Instead, because of political deals and geopolitical crises, the Obama administration is engaging in extensive atomic rebuilding while getting only modest arms reductions in return." NY Times 9/21/14
"Instead, because of political deals and geopolitical crises, the Obama administration is engaging in extensive atomic rebuilding while getting only modest arms reductions in return." NY Times 9/21/14
4
@Glenn - You're expressing a short-sighted view in my opinion. Congress lost interest in supporting any further reductions once Putin took over Crimea and invaded the Ukraine. It's not as simple as you appear to think it is. If the US got rid of all its nuclear weapons by the end of the year, and no one else did, what exactly do you think would be gained toward world peace?
2
All these criticisms of the president and antagonism toward Japan miss the point. It is not about one country, one war. It is about how humanity faces its future.
25
So true and so beautifully said
1
humanity has such a limited future its hardly worth talking about
Yes! Thank you for saying it. That is what I understood the message to be.
Moving, yet meaningless. The reduction in nuclear arms has slowed under this president. We are actually updating these weapons, under Obama and spending millions to refurbish and upgrade our nuclear submarines. What a hypocrite-- Obama. Sometimes I think the man is two people in one. The man of peace and the man of drone warfare, the man of nuclear disarmament and the man of nuclear armament, the moral conscience of America and the not so moral regime changer in Syria--the dichotomies of this President keep him slinking through the loopholes of historical judgment and that is his legacy to America.
2
Obama Disconnect Words and Actions
Reduction of Nuclear Arsenal Has Slowed Under Obama, Report Finds
One trillion for new nuclear system upgrades. Nice speech though, tears to the eyes.
Reduction of Nuclear Arsenal Has Slowed Under Obama, Report Finds
One trillion for new nuclear system upgrades. Nice speech though, tears to the eyes.
4
Does the moral revolution include Japan apologizing for killing millions of people, having an official policy of torture at their prisoner of war camps, enslaving hundreds of thousands, and raping tens of thousands?
Truman did what he had to do to stop an evil war machine that murdered millions, enslaved hundreds of thousands, and raped tens of thousands of women. The Japanese are the ones who need a moral revolution because they still, to this very day, refuse to apologize to all the millions whose lives their evil empire destroyed.
Truman did what he had to do to stop an evil war machine that murdered millions, enslaved hundreds of thousands, and raped tens of thousands of women. The Japanese are the ones who need a moral revolution because they still, to this very day, refuse to apologize to all the millions whose lives their evil empire destroyed.
10
This President has dedicated himself to showing honor, respect, recognition and caring for the need of humans to do more for each other. Those who don't understand the importance of that are destined to repeat the mistakes that lead to conflict and war. God help us if that's what they're teaching their kids.
16
Abe made a mistake by focusing on the crime committed in Okinawa. That said, a lot of crimes are committed in foreign countries by American service people. Our government doesn't pay nearly enough attention to it. President Obama , as usual, had just the right words to express what most of us feel. We do not apologize for bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but we regret having to do it, and hope such desperate measures will never be necessary, again.
7
Dropping nuclear weapons on women and children cannot be forgiven. Those horrible bombings represent the worst acts of terror we have committed since the genocide of Native Americans in our rush to dominant the continent. It is not surprising that the president who bombs women and children daily in our name and with our drones refused to apologize.
4
Women and children are no more valuable than men.
2
And why are women and children more precious than men?
2
Larry:
You must not have been born during the time of this tragedy; it was the only way to stop the brutal behavior of Japan towards many countries. You must have forgotten Pearl Harbor; you must have forgotten the rape and violent behavior of the Japanese all through the war. If the only way to stop this war of so many killed, and so much extensive violence was to drop the bomb, it was the right thing to do. Please study the history so you can understand that as much as no one wanted this to happen, it saved many lives, just not the lives of the Japanese, who would have gone on and on killing others.
You must not have been born during the time of this tragedy; it was the only way to stop the brutal behavior of Japan towards many countries. You must have forgotten Pearl Harbor; you must have forgotten the rape and violent behavior of the Japanese all through the war. If the only way to stop this war of so many killed, and so much extensive violence was to drop the bomb, it was the right thing to do. Please study the history so you can understand that as much as no one wanted this to happen, it saved many lives, just not the lives of the Japanese, who would have gone on and on killing others.
2
President Obama is to be commended to acknowledging this atrocity and for showing compassion to the victims. His heart is always in the right place, even as his cynical detractors do everything they can to undermine his efforts. As an American expat in Europe, I feel that this small gesture is the very least we can do. The world expects moral leadership from the leaders of all powerful nations, and Obama is showing it.
17
This President exemplifies what great leadership means. He represents everything that is good and just about this country - and should be the benchmark on how future leaders of this country are judged. Sadly the current commentary is headed in the exact opposite directly painting him as weak and "unAmerican". Thank you Mr President for reminding the rest of the world all that is good about this country - it sometimes gets forgotten.
546
Obama is weak, ineffectual, insipid, and fatuous. What use is it to call for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This statement is so far beyond the realm of possibility right now that he might as well call for transporting everyone on Earth to paradise.
Obama should leave.
Obama should leave.
2
It's easy for the world to forget all that is good about this country when the biggest Ugly American in history is grabbing all the attention and making the most noise.
2
I expect many people in our country and across the world will miss Barack Obama no matter who is elected president this November. Mr. Obama has been a center of calm, intelligence and decency within the political whirlwind of near madness swirling around him.
2
With Mr. Obama we have had inconsistency between moral arguments and presidential actions. People who favor Mr. Trump note he "tells it like it is". Some of us would have liked over the past eight years both the eloquent verbiage and corresponding wise policy. With Mr. Trump, we will get neither.
4
Under the standards espoused by so many critical commenters today, the U.S. should immediately sever relations with Germany, Russia, Italy, Romania, Grenada, Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other country we've ever been at war with. For good measure, the states of the Confederacy should be forthwith separated from the United States.
Foreign relations from an enlightened nation, as we purport to be, cannot be based on revenge, but rather on sensible self-interest, as well as an affirmation of peaceful intent.
If war is to have any positive consequences, it must have at its core a rational desire to never repeat the bloodshed. It does not mean forgetting. It means moving the arc of history towards peace.
Foreign relations from an enlightened nation, as we purport to be, cannot be based on revenge, but rather on sensible self-interest, as well as an affirmation of peaceful intent.
If war is to have any positive consequences, it must have at its core a rational desire to never repeat the bloodshed. It does not mean forgetting. It means moving the arc of history towards peace.
11
Is there a bad foreign policy idea this guy has missed? While someone explains to him the difference, they also ought to include a tutorial on what "de facto" and "implicit" mean. He's sadly lacking in basic knowledge.
7
Pretty rich coming from a war president. Our commander in chief has kept us at war for each of the eight years of his presidency - a record.
23
Your captious nature is obvious. If he'd have walked away you'd have criticized him for destabilizing the region and not finishing the job.
1
Aren't you tired ny now of the fact that Obama's. rhetorical flights rarely match his performance? He talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. BTW that's some record one doesn't need to be a fault finder to be discouraged by that.
1
This is American exceptionalism at its best and highest. Not the rabble rousing, hate inducing, diminishing, disrespecting, raging blather that passes for political discourse in our nation.
This is the kind of thing that "makes America great again." ... and again...
This is the kind of thing that "makes America great again." ... and again...
24
@smath: I beg to differ...This is the kind of thing that *keeps* America great.
1
Nuclear warfare is Wyoming's #1 employer! We love it! Cheyenne makes $350 million a year in USAF spending (at a national cost of 1.2-1.5 billion) In 1945, America wanted to end a war? Fine in theory. But it was a war in Asia that had started in 1905, when a paid agent of the Japanese empire, Teddy Roosevelt, gave ALL of Korea to Japan as a war prize (he won the Nobel Peace prize doing it, too). Ever since 1945, America has been the new global military empire that has raped Okinawan women for decades, overthrown democracies in Iran, Guatemala, Australia (I was there for that one in 1973-76). A month ago, the US President was dancing the tango in Argentina: on the anniversary of the US authorizing the murder and "disappearance" of 30,000 "leftists". We need more bombs, more delivery system aircraft, more warheads of ALL yields! It's good for employment in every state and congressional district in America! Fascist America under the doctrine of "Full Spectrum Domination" per PNAC 1997!
8
President Obama speaks for future generations - there is a huge generational divide in the US - we should remind ourselves that Republican presidential candidates are talking of incarceration and deportation for immigrants, torture, barring Muslims from the US, and condoning the expansion of nuclear weapons. And the generation that lived during WWII supports them. It's my generation and I am appalled at its lack of moral values.
17
Most support them...you should as well. It speaks volumes. The people are speaking and they're speaking Trump!
1
Who would that be? Republican candidates have called for the jailing or deportation of criminals (illegal aliens) to be sure but no one has said immigrants should be jailed. As to Muslims, the suggestion is a common sense approach that we fix our broken immigration policies and assure background checks before continuing the invasion of non-vetted persons. Oh, and the reason WWII people as you call them are in support of security is because they lived through death and destruction brought on by despots while you of later years have lived in the false world of liberal stupidity and ignorance brought by the perversion called political correctness. Grow up and get a little education would you?
1
More recent historical analysis emphasizes 1. the Japanese empire had already collapsed militarily in terms of threat to the Allies; 2. many top US military leaders (Eisenhower, Halsey, King) found no military reason to destroy two more cities in Japan; 3. the Japanese military clique did not care specifically about Hiroshima/Nagasaki which were just 2 more of the 50-plus civilian cities already burned out by Curtis LeMay's incendiary bombing campaign; 4. the understanding of the atomic nature of the first attack did not filter up to decision-makers in Tokyo before the second attack was launched; 5. the Japanese were deluded as to the intent of the Soviets until a massive attack occurred against their residual armies in Manchuria right at the time of Hiroshima; 6. the Japanese much preferred to surrender to the US than to the Soviets; 7. the Manhattan juggernaut was under way and no considerations of military appropriateness were going to stop it, given the attitudes of Groves, Byrnes, Truman; 8. there was never a realistic plan for massive US invasion of the Japanese home islands; 9. the nasty effects of radiation were not understood or publicized during the first year after the attacks; 10. the "justification" of saving hundreds of thousands of US soldiers was fabricated and publicized in 1946.
29
Yes, and it all could have been avoided if the Japanese had not started World War II in the Pacific.
@carl:
You leave out a lot, and it is significant. For one thing, what it leaves out is that the Japanese Military and Hirohito were on the same page with things, and that neither the Emperor or the military cared about the loss of civilian lives, as you note, more than 1 million Japanese civilians died in the firebombing of cities, yet Japan did not surrender then. There was a several day period between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were not back to back, yet Japan still refused to surrender (and the whole thing about semantics, how the west didn't understand what the Japanese response mean, was just that).
It is easy to say that the Japanese would prefer to surrender to the US, but what that leaves out is that Stalin refused, even after VE day, refused to declare war on Japan, and Russia only hit Manchuria after the bombs were dropped, not before, when they knew it was over, and it was a land grab, pure and simple. If we hadn't dropped the bombs, the bombing of cities would have continued, and it is likely that the allies would have had to invade, there is no historical proof that those running the government, before the two bombs, had any intention of surrendering, but rather fighting to the death of the japanese.Likely millions more japanese, and likely a million or more invaders, would have died if an invasion was needed.
You leave out a lot, and it is significant. For one thing, what it leaves out is that the Japanese Military and Hirohito were on the same page with things, and that neither the Emperor or the military cared about the loss of civilian lives, as you note, more than 1 million Japanese civilians died in the firebombing of cities, yet Japan did not surrender then. There was a several day period between Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they were not back to back, yet Japan still refused to surrender (and the whole thing about semantics, how the west didn't understand what the Japanese response mean, was just that).
It is easy to say that the Japanese would prefer to surrender to the US, but what that leaves out is that Stalin refused, even after VE day, refused to declare war on Japan, and Russia only hit Manchuria after the bombs were dropped, not before, when they knew it was over, and it was a land grab, pure and simple. If we hadn't dropped the bombs, the bombing of cities would have continued, and it is likely that the allies would have had to invade, there is no historical proof that those running the government, before the two bombs, had any intention of surrendering, but rather fighting to the death of the japanese.Likely millions more japanese, and likely a million or more invaders, would have died if an invasion was needed.
2
The U.S. use of atomic weapons against Japan was an unmitigated tragedy. However, your survey of "recent historical analysis" reads more like a careful exercise in cherry picking. It leaves out the Japanese "tactic" of using their own civilians as weapons and human shields during the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945, the decade-long period of unspeakably barbaric treatment of civilians in the Japanese Empire's occupied territories, Japanese treatment of Allied POWS and the prevalent use of suicide attacks against U.S. forces in defense of the home islands.
3
About a trillion dollars - for new US nuclear weapons, no apology for the terror bombing of Japanese cities, nuclear or otherwise, and no, , most actual historians do not think the nuclear bombings shortened the war, or saved American lives, typical establishment NY times "reporting '. this trip is really about building military alliances to counter China.
17
Good thing most historians have little to no credibility.
True historians estimate that an invasion of Japan would have resulted in over 1 million Japanese deaths and somewhere between 200,000 and 300,000 American casualties. The fact that so few Americans know this shows a sad lack of understanding of history and Japanese culture. I guess this is what we get for having generations of liberal controlled schools. We sacrifice truth for political correctness.
The saddest thing about using the atomic bomb is that it wasn't available years earlier to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
The saddest thing about using the atomic bomb is that it wasn't available years earlier to save hundreds of thousands of lives.
1
Don't believe "most historians" is accurate.
And if they were the descendants of the millions of American troops not killed or the tens of millions of Japanese not forced to kill themselves by the military leaders of Japan, they wouldn't be here to lie "the war didn't shorten".
And if they were the descendants of the millions of American troops not killed or the tens of millions of Japanese not forced to kill themselves by the military leaders of Japan, they wouldn't be here to lie "the war didn't shorten".
1
One thing: Thank you, President Obama, for this gesture of our common humanity. It matters.
59
On the subject of Hiroshima, I merely disagree with Obama. Ending the war by bombing rather than invasion was the lesser of two evils. It saved American lives and it also saved Japanese lives. The savagery of the Pacific War was determined by the Japanese, not the Americans. As to eliminating nuclear weapons, Obama is so pie-in-the-sky deluded, he is dangerous. The world prior to nuclear weapons was not safer. To put them aside is only foolish. Humanity cannot put that genie back in its bottle. The only protection from nuclear war is to be better people, and to be vigilant, not to disarm ourselves. And let's be honest. Any American nuclear disarmament will be unilateral, and suicidal.
9
We have a new generation of Americans joining the older American self-haters that see WWII as being started by the U.S.
1
No worries! We have more nukes than the rest of the world combined! We've committed to trillions in expense to modernize them. Plenty to wipe out civilization several times over. You can rest easy tonight... Personally instead of keeping a loaded gun under my pillow I prefer a small tactile nuclear weapon.
It's not accurate to say that you disagree with President Obama because he hasn't taken the position that dropping the bomb wasn't justified.
This is indeed not an "apology tour" but an appearance for both Obama and his counterpart of Japan. Certainly Abe wants Obama's visit because this appearance would somewhat dilute Japan's role in WWII, making an impression that Japan has also been a victim of that war. This would also serve his drive to amend the constitution and eventually normalize the Self-Defense Force into a real army. Obama knows exactly the situation back in 1945 and the impact of him visiting Hiroshima today. What he really wants from this appearance, might just be another political legacy of him—a world without nuclear weapons.
6
I'm torn. I grew up in the shadow of "The Bomb," born less than a decade after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It's difficult to explain to younger people just how large that shadow loomed in our consciousness as we gathered in the auditorium, with sirens blaring, for air-raid drills. At first we were taught that we would stay in school in the event of an air raid, but then reality kicked in and when the sirens blared for a drill we were instructed to just run; run for our lives; run home without stopping to speak to anyone.
But I also grew up in New York City and went to school every day with children whose parents had numbers tattooed on their arms. As Jung points out, World War II was the first time in history that slaughter houses were built for human beings. I lived with my grandparents who had lived through not one but two world wars with a depression sandwiched in between. Their lives were shaped by the horror of war and catastrophe.
Not one, but two world wars were part of the lead up to the decisive bombing of Japan. The United States did not start either one of these wars but they were instrumental in bringing both to an end. While I am horrified by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki I am equally horrified by the image of my friend's families being matched naked in to the gas chambers. Hiroshima was horrific but it was also our cry of "Never Again!" to world war. The decision was made by a generation devastated by nearly back-to-back world wars.
But I also grew up in New York City and went to school every day with children whose parents had numbers tattooed on their arms. As Jung points out, World War II was the first time in history that slaughter houses were built for human beings. I lived with my grandparents who had lived through not one but two world wars with a depression sandwiched in between. Their lives were shaped by the horror of war and catastrophe.
Not one, but two world wars were part of the lead up to the decisive bombing of Japan. The United States did not start either one of these wars but they were instrumental in bringing both to an end. While I am horrified by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki I am equally horrified by the image of my friend's families being matched naked in to the gas chambers. Hiroshima was horrific but it was also our cry of "Never Again!" to world war. The decision was made by a generation devastated by nearly back-to-back world wars.
19
Before the 2nd world war the Nazi party had little backing, when the US stock market crashed in 1929 it's effects were far reaching and the party gained momentum using propaganda to target foreign influences inside and outside of Germany as the reason for their woes. While the US did not 'start' the war, there is cause and effect outside these borders.
I wasn't born when the bombs were dropped on Japan. My father served in the PTO with the U.S. Army Air Corps and his brother, my uncle, served with General Patton from North Africa to Germany. Like many young boys growing up post-war we asked those that served to tell us "war stories." At the time, the 1950's, having our father and relatives talk about the War was not unusual. Given the fact that at the same time we were hearing these stories we were having daily air raid drills in my grammar school because of the Cold War I remember asking both my father and uncle about the A-bombs we used in Japan. Both men who saw combat and watched comrades die said, dropping the bombs was the right thing to do. What they knew at the time was that they perceived the Japanese as fanatics who would never surrender. They believed an invasion of Japan by allied ground forces would be a disaster and the war would linger on for years taking millions of more lives. Who am I to judge whether dropping the bombs was the correct decision. These men fought the war on both fronts and for them, at the time, it was the right thing to do.
9
Who are your relatives who fought the war? I go by the talk in the faculty lounge.
While the mainstream press continues to repeat that he did not apologize, merely by appearing in Hiroshima that is exactly the message that Mr. Obama sends, and he darn well knows it. Our country, the one he appears to hate, was attacked by the Japanese empire in 1941 after Japan had been committing brutal atrocities across the Far East for the better part of a decade. The brutal treatment of our POW's by the Japanese is what needs an apology. Mr. Obama could have told the Japanese he would not show in Hiroshima unless that happened, as well as an apology for their behavior in the 1930's and 40's.
That, however, might have required Mr. Obama to show respect and love for the United States of America.
That, however, might have required Mr. Obama to show respect and love for the United States of America.
12
Thank God we'll soon be done with Obama derangement syndrome. Although I'm afraid it will have been a practice run for full bore Hillary derangement syndrome.
Where is the Good Part of Illinois?
Give it up... President Obama has conducted his presidency with a level of courage, humanity, decency, kindness, generosity, forgiveness not seen in my 64 years. He acknowledges the realities of history without being trapped by them. Ever positive, forward thinking, inclusive and welcoming. He has been a force for good in his time in office. It's sad to see so many cling to hate and anger particularly older folks.
Give it up... President Obama has conducted his presidency with a level of courage, humanity, decency, kindness, generosity, forgiveness not seen in my 64 years. He acknowledges the realities of history without being trapped by them. Ever positive, forward thinking, inclusive and welcoming. He has been a force for good in his time in office. It's sad to see so many cling to hate and anger particularly older folks.
4
I'm in agreement with those Japanese people who stated that while they were happy to see President Obama visit Hiroshima, even with no apology forthcoming, they were not at all happy to see Prime Minister Abe of Japan standing by his side. If Obama had visited Hiroshima during the premiership of a Japanese leader more inclined to openly recognize the horrors and depredations of Japanese imperialism (Japan did have such prime ministers in office from 2009 to 2011 with Hatoyama and Kan--the latter openly apologized to South Korea on the 100th anniversary of the occasion of Japan's 1910 annexation of the Korean Peninsula), that would have been better. But one of the more unfortunate facts about Obama's presidency is that his relations with the left-of-center prime ministers who governed Japan prior to Abe were not good at all and marred by differences over the status of U.S. armed forces in Okinawa.
The most interesting consequence of this visit, I think, will be how Abe and his revisionist handlers interpret this visit to Hiroshima by Obama. Will they attempt to use his visit to validate their view that Japan during World War II waged a legitimate war of national defense and "liberation" on behalf of fellow Asians living in what were then Western colonial holdings? If they do, that move will certainly backfire and Abe may end up facing pressure to do something unthinkable such as visit Nanjing, China and reflect on what Japanese soldiers did there in December 1937.
The most interesting consequence of this visit, I think, will be how Abe and his revisionist handlers interpret this visit to Hiroshima by Obama. Will they attempt to use his visit to validate their view that Japan during World War II waged a legitimate war of national defense and "liberation" on behalf of fellow Asians living in what were then Western colonial holdings? If they do, that move will certainly backfire and Abe may end up facing pressure to do something unthinkable such as visit Nanjing, China and reflect on what Japanese soldiers did there in December 1937.
16
Good Job and Thank You, President Obama. One survivor said, “I held his hand, and we didn’t need an interpreter,” Mr. Tsuboi, 91, said later. “I could understand what he wanted to say by his expression.”
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to continue on the path forged by President Obama when she is President. THAT is the path I want for America. SHE has my vote.
Ms. Hillary Rodham Clinton plans to continue on the path forged by President Obama when she is President. THAT is the path I want for America. SHE has my vote.
168
She won't. She's a war monger.
2
All very moving, but please explain where this vast new investment in 'upgrading the US nuclear capability' & smaller 'tactical' nuclear weapons comes in.
How can people be so deluded by a smooth talker, who does much less than he would have you believe he wants to?
HRC is a war hawk, just itching to show the world how tough she is, just like Obama has felt he had to do.
Enough.
How can people be so deluded by a smooth talker, who does much less than he would have you believe he wants to?
HRC is a war hawk, just itching to show the world how tough she is, just like Obama has felt he had to do.
Enough.
1
A serious question, do people that think the way you do not know what's going on in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Egypt and Ukraine? I cannot fathom someone coming to the conclusion you did knowing what Obama has done so I wonder if a lot of American don't really know what happened to those areas of the world.
2
It seems that the Western media is labeling this Obama visit as a historical fact. Nonsense!
It's important to clearly separate what is historical from what is political fact. What Obama is doing regarding Hiroshima is just a political statement. Period.
It's important to clearly separate what is historical from what is political fact. What Obama is doing regarding Hiroshima is just a political statement. Period.
12
President Obama is the first sitting President to visit Hiroshima. It's historical.
123
@Little Panda
Previous Donald sent you? A comment like yours is what is wrong with America. Stop spewing hate.
Previous Donald sent you? A comment like yours is what is wrong with America. Stop spewing hate.
19
Dear Little Panda:
Obama's visit is a "Christian" thing to do. He acknowledges the horrific
nature of the destruction. We can all agree to that. reva
Obama's visit is a "Christian" thing to do. He acknowledges the horrific
nature of the destruction. We can all agree to that. reva
14
Have any of the Japanese diplomats visited Pearl Harbor?
20
I"m sure they have, Irene. Every time I've gone there are as many or more Japanese than Americans and, according to a report I heard the other night, Japanese school children visit Hiroshima and are also taught about Japan's role in causing WWII. Nobody wins in war.
24
You clearly are not aware of the United States running DC-47 Chennault Flying Tigers painted with Chinese emblems attacking Tokyo in 1937.
Gee- it only made Japan think China attacked them and it completely unwound the peace agreement China and Japan were maturing.
Pearl Harbor was tit for tat- United States not ONLY attacked Tokyo first, they made it look like the Chinese.
I find it highly disturbing John Wayne shows up in a movie a few years later called 'The Flying Tigers' where it's presented the US was in China protecting 'women and children' from those evil Japanese.
Nope - couldn't be further from the truth.
US attacked Japan in 1937, and made it look like China.
Odd how CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History Channel, Fo.. wait- no, that's not news... never mentions this.
That US provoked Japan? and THEN used nuclear weapons ? makes it an even greater tragedy.
Gee- it only made Japan think China attacked them and it completely unwound the peace agreement China and Japan were maturing.
Pearl Harbor was tit for tat- United States not ONLY attacked Tokyo first, they made it look like the Chinese.
I find it highly disturbing John Wayne shows up in a movie a few years later called 'The Flying Tigers' where it's presented the US was in China protecting 'women and children' from those evil Japanese.
Nope - couldn't be further from the truth.
US attacked Japan in 1937, and made it look like China.
Odd how CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History Channel, Fo.. wait- no, that's not news... never mentions this.
That US provoked Japan? and THEN used nuclear weapons ? makes it an even greater tragedy.
1
"Nobody wins in war"! I disagree!
Quite amazing Obama is selling weapons and calling for world peace on the same trip. He exalt the suffers of victims of nuclear weapons but forgot to mention the expended drone and nuclear program under his watch. Frankly as this point I don't really care what he says anymore, his action never matches his words and he is in full legacy building mode. I'd call on him to free private Manning and pareon Snowden but you know he wouldn't do that.
14
Getting people to practically apologize for making you drop nuclear bombs on them is a far greater expression of power than any number of aircraft carriers, but hugging them and calling for a moral revolution is a bit rich.
5
Isn't this the Christian thing to do? Isn't this a Christian country?
My father, a WWII Navy pilot, always said that the day we dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, was the darkest day in American history. He later lost his son in Vietnam. I recently talked to my brother's fellow Huey pilot's roommate and he told me that if my brother would have been one of the lucky ones to survive Vietnam, he would have become the President of Vietnam Veterans against the war. Human beings have discovered everything except peace.
64
This is indeed a profound moment in modern civilization. Why can't the "players" in the middle east (and the world over) do the same. No blame. Reconciliation and move on.
15
That's called "Paradise"...you have to wait until the next life.
As to the President's visit, this is another example of the "nuns pro tunc approach to history. That is let's apply the wants of now to the facts of then.
The lowest estimates of U.S. dead was 250,000 the high 1,000,000.
8,000 at Iwo, 18,000 at Okinawa anon sign of surrender.
memorial Day is Monday, let's remember and honor our own from that last of "Good Wars".
As to the President's visit, this is another example of the "nuns pro tunc approach to history. That is let's apply the wants of now to the facts of then.
The lowest estimates of U.S. dead was 250,000 the high 1,000,000.
8,000 at Iwo, 18,000 at Okinawa anon sign of surrender.
memorial Day is Monday, let's remember and honor our own from that last of "Good Wars".
2
Is this very confused, perhaps simply ignorant guy going to take the Japanese leaders for a tour of Pearl Harbor on the way back?
9
Visiting Hiroshima was Obama's decision. The decision to visit Pearl Harbor would be up to Abe. I am sure he is more than welcome to do so. But don't blame Obama for that one.
2
I'm tired of the guilt trip the left tries to put on America over the bomb. We have to be thankful Japan's unconditional surrender. They didn't rise once again to become feudal military dictatorship, but became a western styled democracy that not only does well for it's people but has brought commerce around the world.
The only way this happened was not by Hague Conventions and political correctness, we forced them to change their culture and were more than fair economically. None of this would have happened without those two bombs.
The only way this happened was not by Hague Conventions and political correctness, we forced them to change their culture and were more than fair economically. None of this would have happened without those two bombs.
12
Please share with us the statements he has made telling Americans to be guilty.
You can do a reply to my email with the truth.
Thanks.
You can do a reply to my email with the truth.
Thanks.
2
The Japanese Emperor was considering surrendering to stave off a looming Soviet invasion. The Japanese military was utterly defeated and posed no imminent threat. US Secretary of War, Henry Stimson, instrumental in developing the A bomb, believed dropping them was unnecessary, that an ultimatum would suffice, together with a promise of support in rebuilding (which was forthcoming). US intelligence agreed. Soon after, many American conservatives joined liberals in condemning the President’s decision to bomb -- not one city but two.
We've not changed their culture. Bushido is still deep within every Japanese citizen. They are also partially non compliant with the Hague treaty and have been since it's inception.
Japan, unlike Germany, never showed any remorse for starting the war and waging terror on the civilians in their grasp. As a result, to this day great bitterness remains between Japan and the countries they overran, unlike the situation in Europe, which has returned Germany to the family of nations.
President Obama was acting Presidential in going to Japan and not apologizing, for he had nothing to apologize about. It was Abe who should have used the opportunity to apologize to the world, but he is not quite the man Obama is.
The issue of the use of atomic weapons in war will be debated by future generations, but to the American generation that was involved in the war and suffered the losses and learned of the atrocities, there was never an iota of doubt regarding the moral imperative to end the war as quickly as possible and save the lives of American soldiers. Period. End of discussion. Hindsight distorts perception, alters the nature of the argument, and creates contexts that did not exist at the time.
President Obama was acting Presidential in going to Japan and not apologizing, for he had nothing to apologize about. It was Abe who should have used the opportunity to apologize to the world, but he is not quite the man Obama is.
The issue of the use of atomic weapons in war will be debated by future generations, but to the American generation that was involved in the war and suffered the losses and learned of the atrocities, there was never an iota of doubt regarding the moral imperative to end the war as quickly as possible and save the lives of American soldiers. Period. End of discussion. Hindsight distorts perception, alters the nature of the argument, and creates contexts that did not exist at the time.
42
Dear sbmd: I don't know if Abe is not the man Obama is - The Eastern cultures have such an overwhelming fear of "losing face" - that that may stand in the way of honesty about anything and an overwhelming desire to maintain a front. We were like that in the 50s - until MLK, Jr made it impossible for us to continue. Maybe what Obama is saying is that we're all human - and alike - and we shudder collectively at human self-destruction and inhumanity. He didn't apologize, which indicates that perhaps we were right in doing what we did - but we can still all be horrified at the inhumanity of it and the agony which was endured.
1
The Japanese Government does not want an apology.
It has never apologized--71 years after the War had ended--fir the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March and countless other wartime atrocities. Also, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already announced that, when attends the Asian Summit, in Honolulu, he will pass on visiting Pearl Harbor.
In fact, Japan has re-written high school history books to eliminate any mention of wartime atrocities. Likewise, it has brow-beat various media to re-write past articles, eliminating the atrocities.
The "Atomic Bomb People", the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are especially concerned that young generations are not aware of what actually tkko place.
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
It has never apologized--71 years after the War had ended--fir the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March and countless other wartime atrocities. Also, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has already announced that, when attends the Asian Summit, in Honolulu, he will pass on visiting Pearl Harbor.
In fact, Japan has re-written high school history books to eliminate any mention of wartime atrocities. Likewise, it has brow-beat various media to re-write past articles, eliminating the atrocities.
The "Atomic Bomb People", the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are especially concerned that young generations are not aware of what actually tkko place.
https://thetruthoncommonsense.com
16
an absolute lie.
I have been IN Japan. I have met with young people.
They ARE aware, total aware.
And they are committed to peace. The "V" peace sign is flashed especially at Americans. It is how they say sorry, can we move on, can we live in peace.
I have been IN Japan. I have met with young people.
They ARE aware, total aware.
And they are committed to peace. The "V" peace sign is flashed especially at Americans. It is how they say sorry, can we move on, can we live in peace.
1
Japan is trying to whitewash their atrocities out of schoolbooks and the collective Japanese memory. I can you tell you as a first generation Korean American that Koreans, Chinese, Phillipinos etc will never forget Japanese atrocities! The US has absolutely nothing to apologize for. Japan brought whatever pain and destruction it suffered on itself.
1
Absolutely true. Contrast with the German people's honorable postwar response to its Nazi legacy.
But two wrings don't make a right. A US apology for an unnecessary way to force Japanese surrender might have made it easier for its people to come to terms with their nation's appalling aggression and not to think of themselves primarily as victims.
But two wrings don't make a right. A US apology for an unnecessary way to force Japanese surrender might have made it easier for its people to come to terms with their nation's appalling aggression and not to think of themselves primarily as victims.
Boy, I don't want to reargue the decision to drop the bomb. And I realize Japan committed shameful acts against their neighbors.
I remember a story about a ceremony on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Some of the Japanese pilots, and U.S. sailors involved in that attack were there. As a pilot approached an American sailor, they spontaneously embraced each other. An act that still brings tears, and requires no explanation.
That's what I think Obama did. I don't know the ramifications to Asian politics. But laying a wreath in Hiroshima seems to me an act that doesn't require much explanation. Just a statement that seems right to me.
Another reason that I'll miss Obama when he's gone.
I remember a story about a ceremony on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Some of the Japanese pilots, and U.S. sailors involved in that attack were there. As a pilot approached an American sailor, they spontaneously embraced each other. An act that still brings tears, and requires no explanation.
That's what I think Obama did. I don't know the ramifications to Asian politics. But laying a wreath in Hiroshima seems to me an act that doesn't require much explanation. Just a statement that seems right to me.
Another reason that I'll miss Obama when he's gone.
309
Obumkin's final lecture to world leaders is on morals? After what he, his "Administration", and his submissive media lapdogs have perpetuated for the past 7+years?
This from someone who has demonstrated for 7 years that he has air between those two biiiiiiiiiiiiig ears, and demonstrated by his own actions, a clear display of bigotry and lack of moral judgement in his own country?
Please, give us a break!
This from someone who has demonstrated for 7 years that he has air between those two biiiiiiiiiiiiig ears, and demonstrated by his own actions, a clear display of bigotry and lack of moral judgement in his own country?
Please, give us a break!
9
Insulting someone because of your dislike of their appearance is childish; perhaps you were sticking your tongue out at the same time.
It will be quite interesting when The Donald takes the oath of office - how the petty insults will fly! and how this grand country will dissolve into rubble....
It will be quite interesting when The Donald takes the oath of office - how the petty insults will fly! and how this grand country will dissolve into rubble....
2
I can accept the opinion but the "two big ears" erases any value and I think expresses an opinion based on a racist evaluation of the man. Can we please elevate the comments to expressions of opinion about policy and significance, without insult?
"A man is the product of his thoughts, what he thinks he becomes." Gandhi
You must live a miserable existence with so much hate and vitriol. I feel sorry for you.
You must live a miserable existence with so much hate and vitriol. I feel sorry for you.
It seems that Obama, the President who has overseen a longer period of war than any POTUS, ever, just does things that makes him feel good about himself. The conceit is mind blowing. What was the purpose of this trip to help the standing of the USA in the world? Aren't the Japanese our allies already? By showing up and not verbally apologizing, he certainly is doing it through his presence.
So he get's to make a speech about how horrible nuclear weapons are, why being impotent over the rapid expansion of nuclear weapons in nearby N. Korea. The man is simply working on his "legacy" and setting up his career for when he leaves office. Sick.
So he get's to make a speech about how horrible nuclear weapons are, why being impotent over the rapid expansion of nuclear weapons in nearby N. Korea. The man is simply working on his "legacy" and setting up his career for when he leaves office. Sick.
23
The only reason Obama has been at war longer than any other president is because President Cheney and Vice President Bush launched a crusade in the Middle East. Obama has spent the last eight years dealing with that entrenched and unwinnable mess. Worked out great for Cheney with his interests in Haliburton and other defense contractors. You might appreciate someone with a brain and conscience like Obama, once you see what a President Trump, cringe, might do.
6
It would be helpful if one of the members of the GW Bush team would visit the war-torn Middle East and apologize. After all, they have caused the death of far more Iraqis than Japanese in Hiroshima
The International Moral Criminal Court might then change its decision. And all of us would be safer from terrorist revenge.
The International Moral Criminal Court might then change its decision. And all of us would be safer from terrorist revenge.
5
SICK is thinking that standing at a memorial and thinking of all those who died "feels good."
Well, perhaps it would feel "good" to someone like you who is bitter and twisted.
But for most of us - And I HAVE BEEN THERE, have you?? -- walking through exhibits that show shoes and lunch boxes and books of children who were incinerated, does NOT feel GOOD.
And looking at small paper birds of peace, made by the many children who survived and then died agonizing deaths of leukemia, does not FEEL GOOD.
You are corrected in your observation: "Sick."
I suggest you look in the mirror and see how sick your hatred of our president has made you.
Well, perhaps it would feel "good" to someone like you who is bitter and twisted.
But for most of us - And I HAVE BEEN THERE, have you?? -- walking through exhibits that show shoes and lunch boxes and books of children who were incinerated, does NOT feel GOOD.
And looking at small paper birds of peace, made by the many children who survived and then died agonizing deaths of leukemia, does not FEEL GOOD.
You are corrected in your observation: "Sick."
I suggest you look in the mirror and see how sick your hatred of our president has made you.
3
No matter how much you may criticize Obama’s Foreign Policy, There is one area where his legacy will shine, he is a sensitive man of compassion & peace.
I am proud to have him as our President One like him may never come again.
I am proud to have him as our President One like him may never come again.
176
Your last sentence gives us hope!
1
our president is the longest serving war time
commander in chief.
his poor judgement has brought grief, death
and dislocation to millions.
history will not be so kind as the times commenters.
thanks?
for what, a couple of decent speeches and photo ops?
yeah, thanks for nothing.
commander in chief.
his poor judgement has brought grief, death
and dislocation to millions.
history will not be so kind as the times commenters.
thanks?
for what, a couple of decent speeches and photo ops?
yeah, thanks for nothing.
2
He is divisive and anti American in every way, which is fine, but not when you are president of the United States.
2
The caption on the current front page picture, "President Obama greeting survivors of the Hiroshima attack after his speech," isn't accurate.
Obama talked with both of the old men in the photo. The second man began to cry and leaned in toward him. He hugged the man, a real hug, perhaps the most touching moment of the day. It was a truly heartfelt and spontaneous reaction that probably meant more than any words he could say.
Obama talked with both of the old men in the photo. The second man began to cry and leaned in toward him. He hugged the man, a real hug, perhaps the most touching moment of the day. It was a truly heartfelt and spontaneous reaction that probably meant more than any words he could say.
39
I enjoy the presidents rhetorical flourishes, but I wish his policies were as lofty as his words. The Obama administration has initiated a plan to 'modernize' our nuclear arsenal. But we're not just decommissioning old weapons, we're also miniaturizing many large strategic warheads originally designed for ICBM's. This means converting them from strategic use to tactical use. This process, which will cost nearly a trillion dollars over ten years, will only increase the risk that these weapons will be used. After all, a tactical nuc will vaporize a smaller area, leaving larger areas relatively free from the effects of immediate radiation, or so they say. These smaller weapons are also a continuation of the Bush's unilateral withdrawal from the ABM treaty which banned such weapons in space.
Obama is right that “Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,” Now he simply needs to put those words into policy. At least for now he's doing the exact opposite.
Obama is right that “Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,” Now he simply needs to put those words into policy. At least for now he's doing the exact opposite.
7
I love our President. No matter what they call him (last week someone running for a Congressional seat in Florida called our President an animal), say or obstruct he always guides us with steadfast leadership.
Remember Joe Wilson calling him a liar at the State of the Union, how do they live with themselves? However, he always remains 'Presidential', for this alone we are all truly grateful.
He shows grace and elegance at all times, and I feel protected from the right winged whacko's and the world they want us to live in.
Also, I am an independent business owner who is able to have affordable health insurance because our President cared. How he got that through the 'do nothing' Congress is amazing. President Obama exudes elegance.
Now, imagine a president Trump compared to President Obama, I shudder, hopefully all of you do as well. For the sake of our country please reconsider voting for a person who changes his mind about everything by the minute, clearly he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. Remember he is being counseled by the likes of Wolfowitz's! Iran here we come, after all, their friends make so much money promoting wars, munitions manufactures gotta get their fixes.
Remember Joe Wilson calling him a liar at the State of the Union, how do they live with themselves? However, he always remains 'Presidential', for this alone we are all truly grateful.
He shows grace and elegance at all times, and I feel protected from the right winged whacko's and the world they want us to live in.
Also, I am an independent business owner who is able to have affordable health insurance because our President cared. How he got that through the 'do nothing' Congress is amazing. President Obama exudes elegance.
Now, imagine a president Trump compared to President Obama, I shudder, hopefully all of you do as well. For the sake of our country please reconsider voting for a person who changes his mind about everything by the minute, clearly he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. Remember he is being counseled by the likes of Wolfowitz's! Iran here we come, after all, their friends make so much money promoting wars, munitions manufactures gotta get their fixes.
70
Thank you.
1
How about imagining our president compared with Bernie Sanders? Because I have a hard time imagining Sanders proposing that out troubled country spend a trillion dollars upgrading its nuclear genocide capacity.
2
I have a hard time imagining sanders proposing anything congress will approve or support.
My generation was inspired by Kennedy whose life was so tragically cut short.
I can't imagine being inspired by Trump who has had (and taken) everything handed to him on the proverbial silver platter by those paid to kiss his behind.
I am happy my children have the inspiration of the Obama Presidency.
I can't imagine being inspired by Trump who has had (and taken) everything handed to him on the proverbial silver platter by those paid to kiss his behind.
I am happy my children have the inspiration of the Obama Presidency.
67
Could it have been done any better? Symbolic gestures with ineffable meaning, all in the hope that humanity never subject itself to the horrors of nuclear war, or any war.
I'm 52, and I had tears reading this. Thank you, Mr. Harris, for taking me there.
I'm 52, and I had tears reading this. Thank you, Mr. Harris, for taking me there.
12
All this morality from a man who has killed hundreds of innocents with drone strikes and is running two imperialistic wars that have killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions is a bit hard to swallow.
10
And there would be ISIS wreaking it's destruction on us if he wasn't vigilant.
2
As I watched President Obama lay a wreath so deliberately and give such a moving speech at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, I could not help but recall the first wreath laying of his presidency. It might have been Arlington National Cemetery but it certainly was an awkward and casual effort. The difference highlights how much he has grown and matured as his tenure comes to an end.
10
Noble idea Mr. Obama, but it's also time to hear for Japan to apologize to America for it's first attack on America's PEARL HARBOR too.
7
Well, who started WWII? Who started aggressively slaughtering and overrunning neighboring countries? It wasn't the US. In fact, we were the country most reluctant to join the fighting. FDR had to use every bit of his power just to get us to supply arms to the UK, and help out the Chinese against Japan.
If Japan had not been foolish enough to attack Pearl Harbor, we might well have continued to dither for several years more. By then, Hitler and Tojo could have conquered most of the rest of the world.
Once wars get going, they have their own momentum. The allies started by dropping propaganda pamphlets on Germany, and ended up by trying to blow up every building and kill every person in Germany. That's what it took to defeat the Nazis and win, so that's what we did. Japan was also apparently willing to fight on to the bitter end, although in the end they appeared to be slightly more realistic than Hitler.
You can bet that future wars will take a similar course. If fighting starts, it will escalate, and no country will hesitate to use the most lethal weapons available, since they correctly think that their enemies will do the same.
If Japan had not been foolish enough to attack Pearl Harbor, we might well have continued to dither for several years more. By then, Hitler and Tojo could have conquered most of the rest of the world.
Once wars get going, they have their own momentum. The allies started by dropping propaganda pamphlets on Germany, and ended up by trying to blow up every building and kill every person in Germany. That's what it took to defeat the Nazis and win, so that's what we did. Japan was also apparently willing to fight on to the bitter end, although in the end they appeared to be slightly more realistic than Hitler.
You can bet that future wars will take a similar course. If fighting starts, it will escalate, and no country will hesitate to use the most lethal weapons available, since they correctly think that their enemies will do the same.
13
Very disturbing post. You justify the immoral mass killing of anyone and everyone ("if that what it took to defeat...").
That makes you worse, than those you want to kill, because you - unlike them - have a choice and supposedly a moral compass.
As for Pearl Harbor, it is in Hawaii, about 5 hours flight time away from the mainland. Los Angeles, Boston, or New York wasn't bombed, was it? The Japanese attacked it, eager to force the Americans to negotiate a peaceful settlement in the Pacific.
Instead, the US took it as a justification to launch a full scale war, which then culminated in the most horrific mass extermination of innocents: the dropping of the atomic bomb.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing can and will absolve the United States of its responsibility.
Ever.
That makes you worse, than those you want to kill, because you - unlike them - have a choice and supposedly a moral compass.
As for Pearl Harbor, it is in Hawaii, about 5 hours flight time away from the mainland. Los Angeles, Boston, or New York wasn't bombed, was it? The Japanese attacked it, eager to force the Americans to negotiate a peaceful settlement in the Pacific.
Instead, the US took it as a justification to launch a full scale war, which then culminated in the most horrific mass extermination of innocents: the dropping of the atomic bomb.
Nothing, I repeat, nothing can and will absolve the United States of its responsibility.
Ever.
@waldo - I am just telling you what does happen, when war breaks out. You may not like it, but that's the way humans in large groups behave. You can say 'we will never do that again', but in the same circumstances, the same reaction will take place.
Obama's actions are abhorrent apologizing for the US bombing just before Memorial Day. He is dishonoring all who served in the military and gave their lives.
The Japanese would have killed thousands more Americans if we hadn't used the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thankfully Obama wasn't president then.
The Japanese would have killed thousands more Americans if we hadn't used the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Thankfully Obama wasn't president then.
8
He did not apologize for anything.
6
He very distinctly and consciously did NOT apologize for Truman's actions in World War II. Check you watch. This is the 21st Century.
7
There was no apology. If you weren't such a partisan nitwit, you could have read that for yourself. Seriously, seek help.
4
One is reminded of Tolstoy's comments on an official celebration of Russian and French friendship, to the effect that it would be more meaningful if German and Austrian representatives had been included. Commentaries seem to be emphasizing that the Hiroshima visit is part of an Asian strategy aimed at countering China. If we're out to promote peace and reconciliation, let's do that consistently. Otherwise, the theatre is meaningless.
10
Notice how both China and Korea are not on the itinerary and neither country sent representatives to the event. They know Obama is underwriting Abe's rearmament policy. The display is for Japanese audience only.
5
President Obama is such a hypocrite. First, he did not do what he promised (no surprise there) regarding the nuclear stockpile:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/science/nuclear-weapons-obama-united-s...
Then he takes the moral high ground at the same time he has drone strikes against civilians. Remember, he is the guy who authorized drone strikes that destroyed the MSF Hospital!
If Obama was a republican, the media would not let him get away with his hypocrisy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/27/science/nuclear-weapons-obama-united-s...
Then he takes the moral high ground at the same time he has drone strikes against civilians. Remember, he is the guy who authorized drone strikes that destroyed the MSF Hospital!
If Obama was a republican, the media would not let him get away with his hypocrisy.
16
It's really a shame the US doesn't have the royalty role, separate from President. Some countries have President, Prime Minister and even king or queen, for different purposes. This social 'top representative' is the role Obama functions in on this Hiroshima trip. I have issues with him as President, even though he has been fine, but he is very good in this high stakes representative role.
1
About 5 years ago Whitehouse release a photo showing Obama at his desk being consulted by advisors and personally choose which target to drone. The message was the drone program have presidential oversight and the president is responsible for every single strike including all those that killed high level insurgents that were celebrated in the media. Yet every strike that killed a bunch of civilians were because of some mishap by a private, sergeant, lieutenant and Obama promise he would curtails the drone program.
Obama is at the same time know every detail about a strike because he have to personally approve it yet completely in the dark about strikes that's going on. He bemoan how hard he have to push to curtails the program but all he really have to do is not approve a strike.
Obama is at the same time know every detail about a strike because he have to personally approve it yet completely in the dark about strikes that's going on. He bemoan how hard he have to push to curtails the program but all he really have to do is not approve a strike.
1
The MSF hospital was not hit by drones, so there goes a lot of your argument.
In a strange way, though, there is some agreement between us. My opinion is that, except for personnel immediately concerned with locating bin Laden, American forces should have been out of Afghanistan before the end of 2010.
In a strange way, though, there is some agreement between us. My opinion is that, except for personnel immediately concerned with locating bin Laden, American forces should have been out of Afghanistan before the end of 2010.
"Many historians believe the bombings on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, which together took the lives of more than 200,000 people, on balance saved lives, since an invasion of the islands would have led to far greater bloodshed." "Many historians"? Most historians expert in this area don't agree. In fact, the US War Department's own analysis of the bombing in 1946 did not agree with this assessment and neither did Eisenhower or Churchill:
"The Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs did not defeat Japan, nor by the testimony of the enemy leaders who ended the war did they persuade Japan to accept unconditional surrender. ...Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey’s opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or completed."
Admiral Leahy the President's Chief of staff stated, “The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender....In being the first to use [the atomic bomb] we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages,” Eisenhower: “Japan was already thoroughly beaten [by late July]...It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing”). See Harpers 1990 http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/hiroshima/?print=pdf or Herken 31 07 2015 WSJ
"The Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs did not defeat Japan, nor by the testimony of the enemy leaders who ended the war did they persuade Japan to accept unconditional surrender. ...Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey’s opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or completed."
Admiral Leahy the President's Chief of staff stated, “The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender....In being the first to use [the atomic bomb] we had adopted an ethical standard common to the barbarians of the Dark Ages,” Eisenhower: “Japan was already thoroughly beaten [by late July]...It wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing”). See Harpers 1990 http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/hiroshima/?print=pdf or Herken 31 07 2015 WSJ
40
Hey Nathan the armchair quarterback, probability is meaningless and the facts are the war was continuing by the day with Americans, Japanese and Chinese continuing to die. The Japanese had ample opportunity to surrender after the carnage of Okinawa but didn't. If dropping the bomb saved one American life it was worth it. Remember Japan started the war
2
“The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender...."
But they didn't and that was the problem. Truman was right. Nobody felt or feels good about dropping the bombs but it had to be done.
"Surrender" was not in Japan's war time government's dictionary.
To this day Japan squirms around its responsibility for the millions killed and the tens of millions more that suffered.
It was an abominable war with an abominable end.
But they didn't and that was the problem. Truman was right. Nobody felt or feels good about dropping the bombs but it had to be done.
"Surrender" was not in Japan's war time government's dictionary.
To this day Japan squirms around its responsibility for the millions killed and the tens of millions more that suffered.
It was an abominable war with an abominable end.
2
Some fairy tales never die. Americans can not accept that the atomic bombings were gratuitous atrocities, despite the avalanche of documentary evidence attesting to this.
In point of fact, if the earth is destroyed in a nuclear Armageddon in 100 years, Harry Truman will bear about 80% of the blame.
In point of fact, if the earth is destroyed in a nuclear Armageddon in 100 years, Harry Truman will bear about 80% of the blame.
2
I am positive that the families of the 3,000+ Americans MURDERED at Pearl Harbor by Japan's sneak attack would thrilled and grateful by anything close to an apologist pronouncement by the pathetically weak hussein obama ... Bet they wish hussein obama had been president at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 .... Knowing that hussein obama would have apologized to Japan immediately for America daring to have our warships in the harbor! ....... hussein obama, as he bent over and grabbed his ankles for the 100th time ...... would have naturally said it was America's fault that Japan attacked us ...
3
You have some type of obsessive denial for referring to our President by his first name, it appears. Maybe learning to spell it would help? Your opinion is rendered irrelevant and meaningless when expressed in 6th grade level childishness.
10
Gee, we lost 3,000 at Pearl Harbor, and they lost 100,000 at Hiroshima. I guess that makes us even, if you think an American life is worth 33 times as much as a Japanese life.
2
Enough.
Just stop already.
Maybe a nap and then some cartoons on TV.
Warm milk to calm yourself.
Just stop already.
Maybe a nap and then some cartoons on TV.
Warm milk to calm yourself.
2
Lots of high-minded moral posturing, but nothing is going to change. People are people, and nations are nations. Who is so naive to think that the leaders of nations will "morally awaken"? Na gonna happen. This is only to polish his legacy.
8
Nothing changes in a fossilized mind.
Is that you?
Something to work on.
Today.
Is that you?
Something to work on.
Today.
4
If you look at the situation with a less cynical eye, you might actually
consider that Obama consistently withdraws from situations which the
Neocons would have rushed into with guns blaring. He consistently
withdraws from situations like Syria, which is a no-win situation with years of bloodshed ahead. He truly abhors war, and though he's drawn into two of them for our own protection, he always tries to withdraw, while at the same time keeping our defenses strong. He protects us too. He's knows that the bad guys are out there ready to destroy us, and he does what he has to do to stop them. This is not as simplistic as you would make it.
consider that Obama consistently withdraws from situations which the
Neocons would have rushed into with guns blaring. He consistently
withdraws from situations like Syria, which is a no-win situation with years of bloodshed ahead. He truly abhors war, and though he's drawn into two of them for our own protection, he always tries to withdraw, while at the same time keeping our defenses strong. He protects us too. He's knows that the bad guys are out there ready to destroy us, and he does what he has to do to stop them. This is not as simplistic as you would make it.
3
President Obama's visit to Hiroshima is profound not only because it recognizes the extreme suffering caused by nuclear weapons, but it is also a recognition that we have not used these weapons since the end of WW II. The world has held a nuclear peace despite the large nuclear buildup after the war. This in itself is amazing; the suffering of those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki contributed to the peace. The world saw the horror of these devices.
My first contact with the Hiroshima bombing was visiting the Armed Forces Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. when I was 9 years old. Seeing the pictures of the burnt flesh of the victims was a sobering experience. As I came to learn about nuclear weapons as I grew, their enormous destructive power was always real to me.
Nuclear weapons are evidence of a finality to humankind's potential to destroy itself. Hiroshima is a monument to that dark side of our consciousness.
My first contact with the Hiroshima bombing was visiting the Armed Forces Medical Museum in Washington, D.C. when I was 9 years old. Seeing the pictures of the burnt flesh of the victims was a sobering experience. As I came to learn about nuclear weapons as I grew, their enormous destructive power was always real to me.
Nuclear weapons are evidence of a finality to humankind's potential to destroy itself. Hiroshima is a monument to that dark side of our consciousness.
29
Moral revolution in one had he talks about getting rid of the Atomic Weapons
sounds good but in the other hand he call to invest Tens of billions in the development of new ones.....just double talk as always!!!....
sounds good but in the other hand he call to invest Tens of billions in the development of new ones.....just double talk as always!!!....
14
This from the man whose administration engineered the murderous catastrophes in Libya, Syria and Ukraine.
What a boon the abolition of nuclear weapons would be for the bipartisan neocon establishment in Washington!
Ideally only the USA and Israel should have them. Then, any country could be treated with absolute impunity the way Vietnam (6 million killed) and Iraq (1 million killed) were treated.
The Obama doctrine on nuclear weapons boils down to making the world safe for American military empire.
What a boon the abolition of nuclear weapons would be for the bipartisan neocon establishment in Washington!
Ideally only the USA and Israel should have them. Then, any country could be treated with absolute impunity the way Vietnam (6 million killed) and Iraq (1 million killed) were treated.
The Obama doctrine on nuclear weapons boils down to making the world safe for American military empire.
7
Obama is an American president with his heart in the right place. I also agree with the Chinese government that if anyone needs to "apologize" it's Abe and the Japanese to Nanjing, a real, methodical, sadistic atrocity.
45
While it is honorable to remember those that have lost their lives in war it is curious and troubling as an American whose Uncle gave his life fighting in World War 2 to see Obama apologizing for Hiroshima. The Japanese have a large war memorial which clearly blames the USA for "aggression" in World War two. The Japanese used poison gas in Manchuria China, admitted to taking sex slaves from Korea, tortured and killed Philipino and American prisoners in the "death march from Bataan" and were brutal conquerors and supporters of the Nazis. Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved hundreds of thousands of American troops and changed Japan into a modern democracy. An equal amount of destruction was rained on Germany with fire bombing of Dresden and Hamburg but Obama singling out Hiroshima is a clear innuendo that we who were attacked at Pearl Harbor while Japan's diplomats were in the USA lying about "peace" are somehow war criminals for using the atomic bomb. On behalf of my Uncle and those that fought the Japanese I reject what Obama has done here.
20
In what sense did he apologize? Can you quote something from his remarks perhaps? A written statement? What is it that makes you say that the President "apologized" for Hiroshima?
6
I could not agree more. Thank you to your Uncle for making the ultimate sacrifice to his country. Japan should thank the US every day for what we've done for them. A president apologizing for the US actions in Japan should be impeached.
2
President Obama didn't apologize, so why did you say he did?
"Mr. Obama not only did not apologize, he made clear that Japan, despite a highly advanced culture, was to blame for the war, which “grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes.”
"Mr. Obama not only did not apologize, he made clear that Japan, despite a highly advanced culture, was to blame for the war, which “grew out of the same base instinct for domination or conquest that had caused conflicts among the simplest tribes.”
7
In 2005, the U.S. sold $8.6 billion worth of weapons to other countries. Bush increased those numbers before leaving office and Obama took that trend and ran with it. Foreign arms sales skyrocketed under Obama, reaching record highs of somewhere between $47-63 billion, the vast majority of that going to countries in the Middle East.
Yes, Mr. President. We are desperately in need of a moral revolution.
Yes, Mr. President. We are desperately in need of a moral revolution.
21
Joe,
If you believe the President has any say over munitions sales, I have a bridge to sell you.
They are figureheads, and I happen to respect this one.
The guys running the show 'the Pentagon' do what they want, when they want to. Believe me, no President gets in the way of the Pentagon if they know what's good for them and their families. Yes, this is the way it works.
If you believe the President has any say over munitions sales, I have a bridge to sell you.
They are figureheads, and I happen to respect this one.
The guys running the show 'the Pentagon' do what they want, when they want to. Believe me, no President gets in the way of the Pentagon if they know what's good for them and their families. Yes, this is the way it works.
1
Healing takes a long time, and I'm glad that President Obama had the courage to visit Hiroshima and embrace some of the survivors in the ultimate human gesture of healing. Mr. Obama wisely chose not to debate the past, but to address the future that the monstrous mushroom-shaped question mark has dangled over all our lives since that bright sunny morning over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. It's a necessary reminder that human survival "hangs by the thread of the psyche" (as Carl Jung put the threat of nuclear annihilation) and that we need very steady hands in our leaders to ensure that nuclear weapons are taken off the table and never casually and recklessly considered as anything more than "MAD" (Mutually Assured Destruction, the Cold War term for deterrence from those like the Soviet Union that would threaten us with nuclear weapons).
11