Tokyo – A group representing Japanese survivors of U.S. atomic bombings urged President Barack Obama to hear their stories and apologize when he visits Hiroshima.
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Two leaders of the Tokyo-based nationwide group told a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday that many survivors still want an apology though they have long avoided an outright demand for one out of fear that it would be counterproductive.
Toshiki Fujimori, a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing, said he found it awkward to hear local and central government officials going over their heads to say they were not asking for an apology.
“I suspect there was a pressure (not to seek an apology) to create an atmosphere that would make it easier for Obama to visit Hiroshima,” Fujimori said. “But many of the survivors don’t think they can do without an apology at all.”
He said the survivors want Obama to know that their suffering is not limited to immediate damage and visible, physical scars. They also suffered discrimination at work, in marriage and in other parts of their lives, by their own people in Japan, he said.
U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the World War II left killed more than 200,000 people and nearly destroyed the cities.
Obama will visit Hiroshima on May 27 after the Group of Seven summit in central Japan, becoming the first serving American president to do so.
Washington said he won’t apologize and a meeting with survivors is unlikely. Japan’s government had also told U.S. officials that it is not expecting an apology, according to Japanese and American officials.
That apparently prompted the survivors to remind him of their true feelings and expectations for his commitment to a nuclear-free world.
Terumi Tanaka, a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bombing who serves Secretary-General of Japan Confederation of A and H Bomb Sufferers Organizations, said he only wished Obama to offer an apology for the survivors for what his wartime government had done to them.
“Families of the victims, those who lost their children. They deserve an apology and I really hope Mr. Obama will at least apologize to them,” he said.
And let’s apologize next to the poor residents of Dresden, whose wood roofs were targeted with incendiary bombs and killed an estimated 60,000 Germans.
Just watch, he will.
O’bummer is not a true leader because a true leader knows when to say I’m sorry. The United States dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which killed about 200,000 people, most of them being innocent civilian men, women and children. This act effectively ended WW II with Japan surrendering. The United States justified their horrendous act claiming that we were at war with the Japanese and, in war, everything is permitted in order to destroy our enemy. Today, we call this “collateral damage.” But when the State of Israel goes out of its way not to harm civilians who are used by the Hamas cowards as human shields but are killed inadvertently in order to kill the terrorists, the whole world, including the United States, accuses Israel of murder. What hypocrisy!
A historical anomaly would take place if any apology is issued for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The dropping of the bombs was to avoid major casualties that would have resulted in a land invasion. Additionally, and much more pointedly, the bombs were dropped to send a message to Uncle Joe in Moscow and to Cousin Mao in Peking, that the U.S. will not tolerate any military movement into the Asian theatre. We have nothing to apologize for, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa proved that the Japanese were willing to die to defend their islands. Risking, unnecessarily, American soldiers was out of the question. Even if both MacArthur and Eisenhower thought that Japan was looking to surrender, there were too many pockets of resistance.
Hussein would love to apologies for all the ‘wrongs’ of the American people..he doesn’t need the offer!
War is Hell,no apology
Did they ever apologize for the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor which brought the U.S. into war?
Don’t worry Mr. China man you don’t have to ask he would’ve done it on his own
The world needs an apology from Japan for the millions they killed in China, Korea, Manchuria and throughout Asia in the war they began, for the Pearl Harbor attack, for the chemical and biological experiments and torture they did on prisoners and civilians from 1932 until 1945 – which was only ended because the US used the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki ! Even after Hiroshima the Japanese military wanted to continue torturing, fighting and killing except the Emperor finally had a change of heart and forced them to give up.
Kudos to #9 who really answered the issue so well. Horrific would just be a start to describe the human rights abuses that the Japanese are guilty of during WW2.
America/Obama has nothing to apologize for. The question remains why did Truman drop the Bombs on cities and not on military targets, such as Japanese island fortress bases. Also, the Bombs were not used as messages for Stalin or Mao, who were both on our side in 1945. In fact Stalin was already told about the Bomb by Truman at the Teheran Conference earlier in the year.
The number of citizens killed by two atomic bombs pale in comparison to the horrific murders by Imperial Japan.
I’ve drafted an apology: we are so sorry we didn’t kick your butt even more than we did so as to strengthen for all ages that if you party up with Nazis or other evil you will be destroyed. And also – don’t mess with the US.
To #9 - Your remarks were the best, and highly accurate. The Japanese acted in an even more savage manner than the Germans, vis-a-vis the killing of civilians. They took Dutch civilians (including women and children), onto the decks of submarines, out to sea. Then, the sub would submerge, with the civilians on the outside deck. If they didn’t drown right away, the sharks would kill them. To this date, the Japanese have never apologized for their savage and brutal treatment of the civilians of the countries and islands which it conquered (millions of civilians were killed by the Japanese in China, Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines). Also, the Japanese executed all of the civilian American contractors on Wake Island. It tortured, starved, and killed American POW’s. Until they apologize for their dastardly actions, we should NEVER apologize for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I’m tired of the Japanese portraying themselves as “the victims”. They started the war, and we ended it!
To #4 - Eisenhower had nothing to do with the War in the Pacific, as he was Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, only.