Hiroshima 65 years later: US attends ceremony, but offers no apology

CS Monitor ^ | August 6, 2010 | Gavin Blair

[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."

[americanophile]

I know a couple of these have been posted, but I'm so incredulous and angry about these revisionist, self-righteous Japanese who think the President should be there apologizing to them...it's beyond all belief.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

US attends ceremony, but offers no apology

Why not "offer" fist pumps, high fives and end zone dances?

[Mr. K]

Were they expecting one?

How about the same time we get an apology for Pearl Harbor

[dfwgator]

And China gets one for “The Rape of Nanking”, which Japanese textbooks won’t even acknowledge.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

There's nothing to apologize for...

Operation Downfall

[thesharkboy]

Should the US apologize for saving the lives of countless Japanese lives? Millions of Japanese would have been killed if the US had invaded the home islands. Doesn’t everybody know this?

[Radagast the Fool]

How about the same time we get an apology for Pearl Harbor

And the Bataan Death March!!

[goodnesswins]

EXACTLY.

[dfwgator]

And the Korean comfort women

And Unit 731

....

[FrdmLvr]

Yes, maybe we'll think about apologizing after we receive an apology for Pearl Harbor, The Baatan Death March, the Rape of Nanking, and all of the other atrocities they imposed upon our POWs. Then again, maybe not. But we are still waiting for our apology from them nonetheless.

Would they have liked it any better had we invaded Japan? I think not. They would be demanding an apology for that, too.

[2001convSVT]

Just curious, has Japan ever apologized for bombing Pearl Harbor? Maybe they did but I have never heard about it.

[hometoroost]

Here’s an apology that might work. “We’re sorry we couldn’t have dropped them sooner. Think of all the additional lives that might have been spared. We’re also sorry you haven’t apologized to anyone for all the things you did during WWII.”

[shove_it]

I’m shocked that the Bowzer-in-Chief was absent.

[thethirddegree]

The Japs are lucky we didn’t drop one on Toyko.

[Celtic Conservative]

No apololgy should be forthcoming, ever. It was war, a war We did not want nor start. That was then, this is now. The past should not be forgotten, but neither should it be reappraised by our standards, We simply don't have the right or wisdom to do so.

CC

[HerrBlucher]

We are sorry we saved so many japanese lives by dropping the bomb instead of invading. Next time we will go for maximum carnage. Satisfied?

[Radagast the Fool]

CC, you are so right.

They started the War,and we ended it.
So what’s the problem?

[americanophile]

Exactly. The list of Japanese atrocities during WWII are legion and defy belief; as sadistic, cruel and inhuman as that perpetrated by their allies, the NAZIs, in their combined imperial bid to rule to the world. America has ZERO to apologize for, but there is a mountain of misdeeds that Japan has yet to recognize, much less atone for. Japan lost the war but they are completely unrepentant.

[SaveTheChief]

I wasn't around back then, but as an American I feel no sympathy to the Japanese affected by the bombings of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. It was a good thing that those people died, that those terrible weapons destroyed two cities and ultimately caused Japan to surrender, ending the war and preventing the deaths of potentially hundreds of thousands of Americans.

This should be the purpose of war - to destroy the enemy until they either submit or are extinguished.

I'm happy that we have a friendly relationship with Japan now, but in no way should America ever apologize for doing the right thing to protect her interests or the lives of her citizens.

This effort to whitewash history will only cause humanity to repeat the tragedies of the past.

[americanophile]