Posted on 08/06/2007 5:13:57 AM PDT by period end of story
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan marked the 62nd anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing with a solemn ceremony on Monday as the city's mayor criticized the United States for refusing to give up its nuclear weapons program.
Tens of thousands of elderly survivors, children and dignitaries gathered at the Peace Memorial Park, near ground zero where the bomb was dropped, to remember the more than 250,000 people who ultimately died from the blast.
"Even to those who managed to survive, it was hell where they envied the dead," Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba told the crowd, describing scenes from the bombing such as charred faces and torn clothes.
In a speech followed by the release of 1,000 white doves into the sky, Akiba singled out the United States for failing to halt nuclear proliferation.
"The Japanese government, which has the duty to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons through international law, should protect its pacifist constitution which it should be proud of, and clearly say 'no' to antiquated and wrong U.S. policies."
The crowd bowed their heads for a moment of silence as two children rang the Peace Bell at 8:15 a.m., the same time the Enola Gay B-29 bomber dropped the bomb on the western Japanese city on August 6, 1945.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Remember, Japan’s constitution forbids warfare as an instrument of policy. It was written by Dugout Doug.
Without a doubt.
But, of course, Japan was focusing its resources on biological warfare agents, which were tested on POWs, and Chinese men, women and children and analyzed with vivisection experiments.
Don’t want nothing, don’t start nothing.
The Japanese started a war with us...
After the experiences of Iwo Jima, Saipan, Okinawa, and a dozen other island conflicts in the Pacific, we knew what to expect if an invasion of the Japanese mainland had to take place.
President Truman rightly decided that it was better that one hundred thousand Japanese die than one more American Sailor, Soldier, or Marine. Add to that the fact that we were killing more Japanese with conventional / firebombing raids on Japanese cities than either the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombs did. Use of the bombs probably saved millions of lives. And ended the war!
Damned Right! Remember that picture always!
I just sorry they had only two to drop.
I’m not saying their constitution should be changed or that we should leave their country. I just believe it is too easy to throw stones at the government of a nation that provides your security.
Happens every year in early August.
And Nanking....and Manilla...and Unit 731....
must...not...speak...
Maybe you’ll think twice about attacking us next time, morons.
Well, Tadatoshi, those policies kept you from being occupied by the Red Army and if you think that would have been a picnic you're nuts. The next time you turn on a light switch in your office you can thank those same Yankee imperialist dogs who rebuilt your country after we destroyed it and figured out how to harness the power from a nuclear reaction to run the 53 nuclear power plants in Japan and for keeping your sorry, ungrateful a** free for 62 years.
I believe Japan was getting ready to drop a “dirty bomb” on San Francisco.
A week later, my response to the mayor's letter was published in the WSJ. Here is the text of my letter:
Why Are We Still Free? Because We're Vigilant and Nuclear-Equipped
With all due respect to Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba ("With 20/20 Foresight, Mayors Around the World Join to End Nuclear War," Letters, Jan. 23), nuclear deterrence has protected U.S. soil from conventional attack, keeping our country inviolate since a few years after Imperial Japanese forces landed in the Aleutian Islands in June of 1942. For more than 60 years, the U.S. nuclear triad (aircraft, naval vessels and ICBMs) has provided the guarantee of massive retaliation in response to an attack by a rogue state, a deterrent unmatched by any other means of defense.
Prior to the development of nuclear weapons, the security of nations rested on conventional forces. These forces, while strong, were not infallible and could be bested by a dastardly surprise attack, as evidenced by the terrible events of Dec. 7, 1941. With no fear of instantaneous obliteration by way of an irresistible retaliatory nuclear strike, a nation, even in the 21st century, might feel emboldened to launch a bold strike against a fellow nation.
While the events of Sept. 11, 2001, prove that the U.S. faces a new enemy of a stateless nature, the remnants of 20th century rogue states, like Iran and North Korea, remain a threatening reality in the new millennium.
Mayor Akiba refers to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as the victims of nuclear attack. I'd ask him to consider those cities as the victims of Imperial Japanese national arrogance and temporary insanity, from a sad period in history when Japan was a rogue nation, perpetrating brutalities upon the peace-loving peoples of several countries. Until the propensity to launch ruthless surprise attacks is somehow removed from the human psyche, I must respectfully disagree with Mayor Akiba and call for the retention of U.S. nuclear retaliatory capabilities.
As an American, I sleep soundly knowing that Trident-equipped U.S. naval submarines lurk deep beneath the waves, Minuteman III missiles wait silently in their silos on the Great Plains and Air Force bombers are ready to deploy, should any nation attempt some desperate gambit and attack our country. The U.S. has the stated position of using nuclear weapons only in retaliation to an attack on our country. Until we abrogate that commitment, I support our remaining vigilant, resolute and nuclear-equipped.
I'm still awaiting a response from the Mayor. Funny, he hasn't responded.....
The US Army Signal Corps rewired Japan after the war. 60 cycle electricity was something entirely new to the country...
Every Japanese citizen should thank Almighty God for the atomic bomb. It saved them, and us, from a hideous bloodbath.
The Japs have a very selective memory!
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