Posted on 10/29/2005 8:13:55 PM PDT by ncountylee
TOKYO (AP) - Victims of the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan joined a sit-in rally in Hiroshima on Saturday to protest plans to base a nuclear-powered American warship in the country, an activist said.
The protest came as talks got underway between top Japanese and American security officials on how to realign the U.S. military presence in Japan.
About 80 people - many of them victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - rallied against plans announced Friday by the U.S. Navy to deploy a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan, said Kazutoshi Kajikawa, who heads the Hiroshima Peace Movement Center.
"It makes me angry that America can even consider basing a nuclear carrier in Japan, the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack," Kajikawa said.
Basing the ship in Japan will also put the Japanese public at risk of being exposed to a radiation leak, he said.
The U.S. has said the carrier can be operated safely in Japanese waters. American Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told reporters Friday that nuclear ships had made 1,200 visits to Japan in the past 40 years without harming the environment.
The U.S. Navy said it decided to replace the conventional aircraft carrier now based in Yokosuka, just outside Tokyo, with the nuclear-powered ship because it has greater capabilities.
Thank you Harry.
I'm glad your dad made it back. My dad, and hundreds of thousands of others, never had to take part in the invasion of the Japan home islands. My dad survived to engender me and to become a three-war veteran and career officer in the USN.
Ask any of a jillion peaceniks.
The oldest being named for Chester Nimitz himself... they just might remember that name over there...
Rookie move. A classic straw man argument. I never made any such claims. I claimed my right as an American citizen to protest the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Are you defending the bombing of Pearl harbor? The Japanese government was bent on world domination, we stopped them. They have no high moral ground and you have no support for your arguments.
A cogent analysis.
Nuclear bombs are more powerful than ordinary chemical explosive bombs having the same weight of fuel, because they release far more energy when they explode. Also they emit biologically destructive radiation (similar to extremely powerful X-rays) upon explosion that a chemical bomb does not.
>What outfit were you with?<
1967-68, 3rd MAW, humping ordnance on F-4's, until I volunteered (hey, I was only 20!) for another 6 months. Knew being a grunt was not this kid's forte, which is why I was in the air wing. Only had to deal with rocket and mortars for the first year. Spent that (Nov 68-May 69) 6 month extension being much more "entertained" up in Quang Tri/Dong Ha with HMH-362, Provisional MAG-15. Flew doorgunner as much as they would let me, got to see the country finally, from a magnificent viewpoint. Held my share of plasma bottles over the wounded on medevacs, not having a clue what I was supposed to do with it when it ran dry! Had some good stories with my Dad about that and his Guadalcanal, Guam, and Oki invasions. Am still in awe of the Navy Corpsman, and his relationship with the USMC. My Dad was the reason I chose the Marines.
He always was convinced I would not be here without Truman's guts to do the right thing.
"I don't blame women and children for their nation's wars."
I don't blame them either, nor did Truman. But the fact of the matter is that the Emperor would have fought on endlessly unless it could be demonstrated that Hirohito faced the total annihilation of his people from a weapon that he could not stop. Civilians always suffer in war, particularly when their leadership is willing to sacrifice them.
Any informed source will contend that American AND Japanese lives were saved by the bombs that finally broke Hirohito's will.
They remember him. One of our greatest fighting admirals.
"Virtually all of the folks nuked in Japan are dead. It happened 70 years ago. Almost all of them were women and children."
Well, I guess NOT if some of them are prostesting, hmm, Sparky?
"I seriously doubt Tojo and his lackeys gave the slightest thought to what women and children thought about making war."
Irrelevant and a weak guilt trip to try and sidetrack your lack of understanding.
"However, Americans who blame women and children for Tojo's actions are beneath contempt."
Nobody has blamed the women and children specifically. YOU, however, are basing a straw man arguement on the only people effected by the bombs were women and children, yet I've seen plenty of photos and film of able-bodied men who were injured or killed in the bombing.
So, take your "contempt" and shove it, troll.
If you knew anything of the history fo the Japanese public during the war, you'd never take the position that they were innocents - they fully supported Tojo's efforts in every way.
Agreed; I guess I already knew the answer to that...
"You lose."
That's the best you have? That and some spurious claims to be related to Delay?
Wow.
Arrogant much?
Good job doorgunner69. You could have been one of the guys who flew me into the zone, or for that matter to Danang when I was medevaced. I'm in awe of the guys I had the honor to serve with in the 5th Marines. An elite outfit that continues to distinguish itself in the Iraq War. Semper Fi!
Documentation? As posted previously, I will gladly provide mine.
That's about a stupid a comment as I have ever heard.
As far as I know, the Nuclear Reactor Vessel from the "Thresher" is still alive and well, monitored and intact on the Atlantic Ocean floor. At depths far beyond what was caused the Nuclear Submarine's Pressure Hull to implode back in the 1960s.
The Japanese can protest. That won't stop the basing of Nuclear Carriers, their Task Forces and the odd Old or Re-built and Modified Boomers; while the Chinese and North Koreans can worry politically.
Sounds like a fair trade-off to me.
Jack.
I think he went to bed.
Screw 'em if they can't take a joke.
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