Obama Declines To Defend U.S. Bombing Of Hiroshima, Nagasaki

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Defending the decision of the United States to drop nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII is not a comfortable thing to do when you're in Japan. But if you're President of the United States, you must do it. Diplomatically, yes. With sympathy for the civilian victims, yes. But you must do it.

But when it came time today for Barack Obama to do so, he failed in that fundamental duty. The very first reporter [from Fuji TV] called on at the joint press conference with PBO and Japanese PM Hatayama in Tokyo today put the question to Pres. Obama in blunt and explicit terms:

JAPANESE REPORTER: What is your understanding of the historical meaning of the A-bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Do you think it was the right decision?

Obama took a deep breath, paused . . . and punted . . .

[traditional1]

This asshat appologizes for everything America has done for the world....and....he’s not done yet.

[2111USMC]

The “one” will go down in the history books as being the first President who hates America.

[Night Hides Not]

Pathetic but expected from President O’Putty. I’m actually a little relieved he didn’t offer an apology. A dodge is better than a total capitulation.

Obama's got Hiroshima and Nagasaki penciled in on his itinerary for his "Far East Apology Tour". It would have been a bit too much to do a worldwide apology tour in his first year of office. That's why he limited his apologies to Europe and Africa.

[castlegreyskull]

If the dollar keeps declining like it has been doing all year, it might be worth 5 billion U.S. dollars.

[chessplayer]

Any other President been asked that question under similar circumstances?

[Peter Horry]

“And don’t forget Russian dead during the war.”

I haven’t, I was pointing out that Japan’s loses (especially military) were appreciably lower than Germany.

Russia has a tragic pass, communist democide probably had a death toll equal to the 24 million lost during WW II, no wonder they drink.... OK that was a little flippant.

[Yardstick]

Good point. He has to pace himself.

[chimera]

Ah, okay, got it. No question the planned invasions of the Japanese homeland would have pushed the casualty totals through the roof for both Japan and this country. My Dad was in the ETO and survived D-Day and the long march into Germany, and one of the very few times he ever spoke of his experiences over there was to tell of his relief when they heard that the Potsdam terms had been accepted after the Nagasaki drop. Many of the units in Europe would have been redeployed to the PTO, and that was one thing the guys would rather not have faced.

[Roccus]

[Christian4Bush]

The proper response would have been "It was an excellent decision. It saved the lives of a million Americans and also the lives of TENS OF MILLIONS of Japanese".

He could have even used his own terminology in there: "It saved OR CREATED the lives of millions of Americans and tens of millions of Japanese."

If, of course, that's really what he cared about...American lives...

[Peter Horry]

"to tell of his relief when they heard that the Potsdam terms had been accepted after the Nagasaki drop"

Here is part of an obituary for a relative, it details his service as well as his relief (and elation) at encountering allied forces as the war ended.

He enlisted in the Army Air Corps prior to World War II, serving as a radio operator and top gunner on the Liberator B-24 whose bombing missions were over Munich area of Germany. Mr. xxxxxxx;s plane was shot down which resulted in him being detained for 18 months as a prisoner at Stalag IV in Poland. He was moved along with 6,000 other POW's on a forced death march. After 86 days and an estimated 600 miles, and deaths of approximately 1,300 men, the POWs just marched into the glorious presence of American or British forces. He received the following medals for service rendered in World War II: Purple Heart, Air Medal with two Bronze Oak Leave Clusters, Prisoner of War Medal, European-African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Army of Occupation Medal-Japan and an Honorable Service Button.

[DuncanWaring]

There’s certainly plenty of folks who say “My father was scheduled for the Japanese Invasion; if we had invaded Japan, I wouldn’t even exist.”

[MajorThomas]

You got a good point there. ;)

[MajorThomas]

I agree whole-heartedly, I have a cat that is more statesmanlike than Obama. Really.

Makes me worry that our military already deployed in the middle east are at serious risk simply because Obama thinks he can use our soldiers as his ambassadors, and not what they are trained to do. I am not saying that there is no need for caution, but Obama is allowing them to be sitting ducks... he needs to decide to give them his full support (arms, money, troops, etc) or get them the hell out of Dodge...

I have a hard time thinking I would ask or encourage anyone to enlist in the military when you have a CIC that has no clue as to how to manage a armed service, let alone giving them the 110% support they need to protect America as well as themselves.

Our American soldiers, unlike the evil forces we are fighting, do not go into the military to be suicide fighters, and I really don’t think Obama truly understands this fact.

[TheDailyChange]

HEY BUCKWHEAT!

REMEMBER THIS:

IF AMERICAN TOOK AN INFERIOR POSITION DURING WARTIME YOU BLACK CHICAGO AS! WOULD BE SPEAKING GERMAN OR JAPANESE, GOT THAT BUDDY?

THIS SO-CALLED THUG PRESIDENT IS PATHETIC AND DOES NOT REPRESENT AMERICANS THAT FOUGHT TO DEFEND THIS GREAT NATION, PERIOD!

[Empireoftheatom48]

Zero is a limp Di*k.

[TheDailyChange]

I am a 20 year vet retired from military service- it was the best years of my life. I love this country and wanted to serve her. My Son is in the Navy Serving aboard the USS Roosevelt. God bless him and all vets every where.

AMEN!

[FTJM]

Surprised he didn’t quote Mao.

[ru4liberty]

Your name was mentioned on Fox News Watch today! Try to catch one of the re-airings.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks, ru—cool!