U.S. attends Hiroshima bombing ceremony for first time

U.S. attends Hiroshima bombing ceremony for first time

news.yahoo.com

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Japan marked the 65th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima Friday with the United States represented at the ceremony for the first time.

A peace bell tolled at 8:15 a.m., the time the bomb was dropped by the U.S. B-29 warplane Enola Gay on August 6, 1945, as tens of thousands of elderly survivors, children and dignitaries held a minute of silence under the burning summer sun.

"Clearly, the urgency of nuclear weapons abolition is permeating our gl

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Still no apology? This must be angering many Japanese and if it doesn't, they prove much more "understanding" than many Americans, seeing how many people in the US are angered by a proposed Mosque near ground-zero. The difference here is that the US government actually destroyed millions of lives in a horrible and deliberate attack on civilians, while Islam (as a whole) didn't. I guess it's easy to suggest that no one alive in government today had anything to do with the bombing, but it is the symbology of it all. If we apologized, it would be one thing but to attend without apology seems a little harsh to say the least.

--airspoon

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 6-8-2010 by airspoon]

Why apologise ?

Has Japan apologised for Pearl Harbour ?

War is hell, people die, the victors never apologise, to expect an apology is absurd as it was Japan who brought the US into the war by bombing Pearl Harbour.

I'm sure the majority of Japanese are not angered as they probably realise it was their own fault by declaring war on the US

reply to post by Discotech


Japan didn't commit an act of terror by deliberately targeting women, children and innocent civilians. Furthermore, being the professional soldier that I am, I can assure you that "war" is not the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians. Rather, such an act is called "terrorism".

--airspoon

[edit on 6-8-2010 by airspoon]

Who gives a # about the Japs? Where are their apologizes for Pearl Harbor, the Bataan Death March, the Rape of Nanking, the use of POWs as slave labor, and the brutal occupations of the Philiphines, Guam, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, French Indochina, Taiwan, Korea, etc? In fact, they Japanese refuse to admit that war crimes even occurred muchless apologize for them ... Japanese school textbooks don't even mention these horrible atrocities.

If you ask me, they got off easy ... way too easy.

Japan didn't commit an act of terror by deliberately targeting women, children and innocent civilians.

Then you know NOTHING about World War II ... read up about the Japanese occupation of China. They butchered entire cities and raped women by the millions. They held contests to see who could impale the most Chinese babies on their bayonets and behead the most men with the Samurai swords.

During the occupation of Guam and the Philiphines, the singing of the Star Spangled Banner was a mandatory death sentence as was speaking English.

[edit on 6-8-2010 by ChrisF231]

reply to post by airspoon


Why apologize for defeating your enemy? Don't get me wrong, I do feel much sympathy for the Japanese and the lasting damage caused by the bombs.

Reasons no apology is necessary are as follows.

1- Japan sneak attacked the US while they were engaged in europe.

2- Japan refused to surrender even when they knew all was lost and were willing to fight and die to the last man, woman and child.

3- Even after the first bomb was dropped they still refused to surrender and three days later they dropped another bomb which finally convinced Japan to surrender.

Funny how you don't hear the Japanese demanding an apology because they are mature enough to accept the consequences of their actions.

Originally posted by airspoon
reply to post by Discotech

 

Japan didn't commit an act of terror by deliberately targeting women, children and innocent civilians. Furthermore, being the professional soldier that I am, I can assure you that "war" is not the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians. Rather, such an act is called "terrorism".

--airspoon

[edit on 6-8-2010 by airspoon]

Japan didn't target women? The japanese forced over 200,000 (might even have been 400,000) chinese and korean women to be pleasure slaves for the army. Japan even apologized for it recently.

Why would the United States apologize? This was nothing but just retribution for acts perpetrated against America and its allies by Japan - and the only way to end the war Japan started without guaranteeing countless more lives lost (on both sides, although that is irrelevant). If anything, the Japanese should thank the US for nuking them into submission. As a result, their isolated, backward country was ushered into economic and political enlightenment.

reply to post by ChrisF231


The difference between Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima is that one was an attack on a military force, while the other was a deliberate attack on innocent civilians, otherwise known as an act of terror. Furthermore, the civilians in Hiroshima didn't partake in the rough treatment of POWs or the occupation of lands conquered. Two wrongs don't makie a right and never should be count the deliberate targeting of women, children and innocent civilians to be acceptable, ever.

Moving along, we weren't exactly angels either, as we "interned" Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. We can tit-for-tat all we want about the atrocities of WWII, but that still doesn't excuse our deliberate targeting of an entire town of civilians, to include women and children who had nothing to do with the actions of their government.

--airspoon

[edit on 6-8-2010 by airspoon]

What's your excuse for the rape of Nanking and all the atrocities carried out during the occupations? How about the Bataan Death March?

Apology?

War is hell. Everyone knows that. Along with all is fair in love and war.

It is only recently that the world has turned to this wussified version of warfare.


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Originally posted by airspoon
reply to post by ChrisF231

 

The difference between Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima is that one was an attack on a military force, while the other was a deliberate attack on innocent civilians, otherwise known as an act of terror. Furthermore, the civilians in Hiroshima didn't partake in the rough treatment of POWs or the occupation of lands conquered. Two wrongs don't makie a right and never should be count the deliberate targeting of women, children and innocent civilians to be acceptable, ever.

Moving along, we weren't exactly angels either, as we "interned" Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. We can tit-for-tat all we want about the atrocities of WWII, but that still doesn't excuse our deliberate targeting of an entire town of civilians, to include women and children who had nothing to do with the actions of their government.

--airspoon

[edit on 6-8-2010 by airspoon]

The difference...

One caused the other to happen. The US pacific fleet was not engaging the japanese at the time. The japanese were the ones to strike the first blow.

And disabling their manufacturing capabilities (such as the bomb did) is a strike on japans military industry.

War is hell, and collateral damage is inevitable at some point.

After reading the responses it seems as a society we are de-evolving.
Comparing Pearl Harbor with Hiroshima is like comparing the short lived fire on an incense stick to 911.

Based on the logic of some here the correct thinking is "If a country attacks my country I can drop an atom bomb on them because if someone acts evil then my country can act more evil but still be the good guy"

Proud barbarians!

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


I was speaking of Pearl Harbor. Furthermore, the Japanese attack didn't come out of the blue. You see, America had declared herself to be neutral, though she was following the laws or neutrality. Rather, America was arming and supplying the Japan's enemies, right out in the open, which is in of itself, an act of war. Furthermore, the Japanese actually sent out a warning well before the commencement of the attack, though the US denies that it got it. Whether we did get it or not, is irrelevant, as Japan did try to send it, which proves intent.

Also, just because Japan did some horrible things, doesn't mean that we too can commit the same acts of horror, if not amplified. If you go by this logic, then Al Qaeda would be justified in their attack on 9/11 (if in fact, they did commit the act on that day).

--airspoon

reply to post by airspoon


You should really read up on your history

You may not be alive today if the bombs were not dropped

Sure they took out cities and killed innocents, it's what happens in war though (you should really know this yourself being a "professional" soldier).

The dropping of the bombs were intended to pressurise a "defeat is not an option" nation into admitting defeat. Had those bombs not been dropped EVERY man in Japan would have fought tooth and nail to defend their nation (they were awfully full of pride and honor towards their nation and Empire) and millions more lives would have been lost because of this.

The bombs were a neccesary evil to spare American and Japanese lives.

Again I'll say read up on your history before just making wild assumptions, the Japanese were far from civil during WW2

Originally posted by airspoon

Still no apology? This must be angering many Japanese and if it doesn't, they prove much more "understanding" than many Americans, seeing how many people in the US are angered by a proposed Mosque near ground-zero. The difference here is that the US government actually destroyed millions of lives in a horrible and deliberate attack on civilians, while Islam (as a whole) didn't.

Actually America claims the attacks saved millions of lives and unfortunately cost far less than that in civilian casualties, which occur in every war. The estimates I read of killed and wounded were 150,000 in Hiroshima and 75,000 in Nagasaki, and even if those are conservative I'm not sure how you get millions from that.

www.aasc.ucla.edu...

Should US apologize to the japanese people for dropping atomic bombs on civilians?

214,000 people died as a result of bombing two cities, hiroshima and nagasaki.this included innocent japanese civilians, Korean Prisoners of war, japanese Americans who were studying there prior to the outbreak of the war and then could not leave, and allied POWs in prisons.

I notice people responding to that question pointing out the same statement I made, that the decision was justified based on the belief it would save lives, but still it was a horrible decision to be faced with. I'm glad I'm not the one who had to make it because condemning that many civilians to death isn't a decision anyone would take lightly. I'm not sure I would call them innocent civilians however, women and children were trained to kill in addition to the soldiers:

Truman's ultimatum regarding Hiroshima

Japanese soldiers and civilians alike are being trained to attack American troops.

Japan isn't seeking any apology and the US isn't offering any as far as I know...

Japan will not seek US atomic bomb apology

The Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said yesterday he had no plans to seek an apology from the US over the atomic bombings of Japan during the second world war. "I think it's more important to focus on nuclear disarmament than to use our energy seeking an apology from the United States," he said during a political debate.

His remarks came as the Japanese defence minister, Fumio Kyuma, came under fire for saying the US atomic bombings of Japan during the second world war were inevitable. In a speech on Saturday, Mr Kyuma said: "I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped."

I have to agree with the Japanese, it probably couldn't be helped.

The US should offer condolences at the losses but I'm not so sure an apology is in order.

Maybe you should brush up on your history, as many historians make an extremely viable argument that the atoms bombs were not necessary and were only used to ensure an American victory, instead of a joint victory divided between the US and the USSR.

Furthermore, even if the invasion of Japan would have cost America a million lives, it would have been far more justified over only a fraction of civilians lives. Civilian deaths should be avoided at all costs, even the lives of professional soldiers. Never, ever should a professional soldier deliberately target civilians. There is never an excuse for it, ever.

--airspoon

Based on the logic that many are using here, a diliberate terrorist attack on US cities would be justified if the saves the lives of another country's military. This is absurd and it's the same thinking that goes through the head of suicide bombers as they enter a nightclub or crowded market.

--airspoon

reply to post by airspoon
Are you saying if the civilians are trained to attack you, you're not going to shoot back? The civilians would have been killed for attacking the troops whether the bomb was dropped or not.

Those responsible are the only ones who can truly apologize. All anyone now can say is that we are sorry.

That being said, those that made the choice believed they would be saving lives of many innocents as well as the lives of many American and ally troops as it would bring an end to the war, and it worked, so I would have to think they might not want to take their choices back. As for the current American president saying he is sorry, well that would be appropriate as most people I know are sorry for great losses of life, whether civilian or military.

I would just like to think that our current military would be better educated on how great the need was to stop this war, and the atrocities carried out by the Japanese during this war.

Those responsible are the only ones who can truly apologize. All anyone now can say is that we are sorry.