Hiroshima-Nagasaki survivors demand apology from Obama
A group of survivors of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have urged President Barack Obama to tender an apology for the bombing and hear stories of the struggle they endured as a result. Washington has said that Obama won't apologize and a meeting with survivors is unlikely. The Japanese government has avoided commenting on the issue.
On 6 August 1945, the US B-29 bomber the Enola Gay dropped a uranium bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" on Hiroshima. About 70,000 people died immediately. At least 140,000 people had died by the end of the year through injury and the effects of radiation. The bombing, and a second bomb dropped on Nagasaki three days later, forced Japan to surrender, ending WW2.
On 9 August, three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the U.S. dropped a plutonium bomb on the city of Nagasaki. The bomb killed between 9000-80,000 civilians including women and children, with a vast majority dying due to the after effects of the radiation. On 15 August, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the allied forces, ending World War 2.
The last official US visit to Hiroshima was when the Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Hiroshima in 2008. Many in the US believe the bombing was necessary to end the war, and do not want their leaders to take actions which might be seen as an apology. Kerry stressed that his visit was only about "the present and future."
President Barack Obama will be attending a G7 leaders' summit elsewhere in Japan in May, and there are reports he is considering a stop in Hiroshima. If it happens, it will be the first time a sitting US president visits Hiroshima.
John Kerry became the first US Secretary of State to visit the Japanese city of Hiroshima, which was obliterated by a US nuclear bomb on 6 August, 1945. However, US officials stated that speculation that Kerry may offer the first US apology for the attack was untrue. Kerry and other world leaders are in Hiroshima to lay the groundwork for next week's G7 meeting.
"If you are asking whether the secretary of state came to Hiroshima to apologise, the answer is no....the secretary and I think all Americans and all Japanese are filled with sorrow at the tragedies that befell so many of our countrymen." - An un-named State Department official
US President Barack Obama is set to become the first sitting US president to visit the nuclear bomb struck city of Hiroshima. The visit is scheduled to take place after the G7 summit to be held in Japan next month. Obama is also considering offering a floral tribute at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
White House spokesperson Josh Earnest confirmed that US President Barack Obama would be the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima. Officials said the visit aimed "to highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons." However, it is still not known whether President Obama would issue an official apology for the bombing.
A group of survivors of the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have urged President Barack Obama to tender an apology for the bombing and hear stories of the struggle they endured as a result. Washington has said that Obama won't apologize and a meeting with survivors is unlikely. The Japanese government has avoided commenting on the issue.
