Posted on 08/06/2010 7:59:03 AM PDT by americanophile
Sixty-five years after the United States dropped "Little Boy" on Hiroshima, effectively ending World War II and ushering in an era of nuclear dread, the US sent its first delegation to the annual ceremony to remember the over 100,000 Japanese who lost their lives in the bombing.
Britain and France also sent representatives for the first time.
While some Japanese hailed the presence of the US and other nuclear powers as a sign of commitment to eventual nuclear disarmament, for others it was too little, too late. Some Japanese still want an apology for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while others complained about the absence of President Obama.
Some of Hiroshima’s hibakusha – as atomic bomb survivors are known – criticized the US ambassador for failing to meet with them, apologize for the bombing, or even offer a floral tribute. Others however, saw his visit as a sign of progress.
On the streets of Tokyo, there were mixed feelings regarding the US delegation’s attendance. “It’s good they’ve come, but why has it taken 65 years?” asked an office worker who was watching the morning’s ceremony from Hiroshima on public broadcast NHK. “And really, Obama should be here after the speeches he’s made about nuclear weapons."
US Ambassador to Japan John Roos was joined by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and delegates from over 70 countries as Prime Minister Naoto Kan implored the world to “accept the Japanese people's hope that nuclear destruction never takes place again."
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
PERFECT!
LOL!
I wrote one, why didn’t they use it:
We’re sorry you started the war, committed heinous war crimes and were such fanatics that the dropping of atomic bombs was the only way to end the war and minimize casualties.
No apologies. EVER!
The Japanese were - and still are - Just like a criminal who is regretful for having been caught, not for the criminal act.
They are a pitifully arrogant people that truly believe that they exist on a higher plane than most all others in the world. They believe that if they do something bad to you it’s YOUR fault because YOU did not stop it. That’s why they have showed only the most minimal of contrition for 60 years.
It’s all a holdover from that twisted, bushido honor crap that they can’t get out of their DNA.
They think that if they can get us to apologize for the bombs then that somehow washes them clean of their barbaric rampage throughout the entire war. They know Obozo is their BEST chance for an official apology.
Well, I guess they could have continued to fight instead of surrendering. Their population today would be about 2 million, and no real post war recovery to talk about. Maybe they should thank us for all the major investments that made their recovery possible?
Exactly!!!!!!!
My father was in Nagasaki two weeks after they dropped the bomb. He’d just spent the last four years in the Pacific in some pretty hairy spots (including Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Leyte, Iwo, Okinawa) and earning 7 battle stars. He is one of the dwindling few who have witnessed the result of the use of “the bomb” first hand, and his views on their use is complex. One of the items he has kept all these years is a little twisted brown thing - almost unrecognizable - but it is a fused portion of a human spine, the last remains of some poor soul lost. It isn’t kept as a trophy of the vanquished, but as kind of a memorial to the completeness of war. I don’t know what I’ll do with it when he passes - maybe it belongs at home in Japan.
Their self-righteousness and denial defies belief.
We should be funding the building of a 13 story Christian church at the site. Just to show we hold no grudges.
War is an awful thing. Japan shouldn’t have started it. Millions died as a result.
;)
Not true. An invasion was not necessary. The Japanese (who were being strangled by the blockade) were ready to agree to a conditional surrender (thus avoiding an invasion) BEFORE the bombs were dropped. The sticking point was whether they could keep the emperor. Truman, backed up by his bitter end New Deal advisors who wanted to eliminate all vestiges of the imperial regime, refused. Ironically, Truman finally agreed to such a conditional surrender when, after dropping of the two bombs, the Japanese still held out on this point. It was not necessary to INTENTIONALLY violate the ancient rules of war by INTENTIONALLY kill thousands of babies and little old ladies (many who lived in Nagasaki, the heart of Japanese Christianity) solely to promote terror.
My grandchildren are almost old enough to get the same "never forget" rant that my children got so that these "rewrite" historians never get their way.
Damn right!
An embargo is an act of war. Who “started” that?
“I’m shocked that the Bowzer-in-Chief was absent”
If Obozo had gone to that circus sideshow his approval rating would have dropped 10 more points overnight. Only the hardcore, insane left of left would approve of that. Zero’s popularity in Indonesia would be destroyed also. They think he’s like a native son. And probably is. Japan was brutal on the Indonesians as everywhere.
Oh and maybe apologize to the “comfort girls” while they are down on their knees too.
Bush 41 barfed in the Japanese Prime Minister’s lap - that is more appropriate.
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