Obama At Hiroshima
Two competing perspectives from Japan:
I'm more inclined to agree with the second author. A visit to those sites would underscore his seriousness about abolishing nuclear weapons. (It would also prompt howls of indignation from the right that every time Obama goes overseas he apologizes for America, but they'll do that no matter what.)
Obama, as U.S. president, does not have to, and should not, visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If he does, then Japanese leaders must at least pay official visits to Pearl Harbor to apologize for killing innocent civilians there and for actually starting the war. -- MASANOBU SAITO
If Obama were to speak from Hiroshima (as no other sitting U.S. president ever has), this would allow the entire world to imagine a future no longer held hostage by fears of cold war, nuclear winter, or nuclear terrorism. As Obama has stated, political will and support for a nuclear-free world first requires imagination. An address from Hiroshima would be bold, historic and compelling.While I agree with the first author that Obama has no obligation to go to Hiroshima, a visit there certainly wouldn't require reciprocation by Japanese leaders. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are not morally equivalent to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and moral equivalency is well beside the point.
Obama's groundbreaking April 5 speech in Prague — mentioned by many speakers at memorial events in Nagasaki and Hiroshima this past summer and widely reported in the Japanese media — shows just how closely attuned he is to the essence of Hiroshima's viewpoint -- JOHN EINARSEN
I'm more inclined to agree with the second author. A visit to those sites would underscore his seriousness about abolishing nuclear weapons. (It would also prompt howls of indignation from the right that every time Obama goes overseas he apologizes for America, but they'll do that no matter what.)
Labels: Barack Obama, nonsense
posted by jodru at 22:50
2 Comments:
Harry Truman made the most difficult decision ever required of a president and for all the horror, it ended the war and saved thousands of American lives and was exactly the right thing to do.
We're all tired of Obama criticizing every past administration for the past half century when he has accomplished so little. Heaven forbid that he should ever be faced with a similiar decision, because this country would be in big trouble.
Congratulations Dp, on being the first to howl your indignation! ;)
The point of a speech at Hiroshima should definitely not be to criticize the decision to drop an atomic bomb there. The point is that as the head of the only state that's actually annihilated humans with an atomic bomb, the US President is uniquely able to call attention to the dangers of these weapons.
A speech at Hiroshima where Obama repeated his call for an end to nuclear weapons would have profound significance.
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