62nd Anniversary Of Hiroshima Bombing
Monday, August 06, 2007
August 6th marks the 62nd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima - one of the single biggest attacks against civilians in war and one of only two times atomic weapons have been used during a military conflict (both times deployed by the U.S. against Japan in the closing days of WWII).
This year the anniversary coincides with a debate occuring in Japan over the future of their "peace" constitution. Kyodo News reports:
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba warned that proliferation of nuclear arms is gaining momentum because a ''handful of old-fashioned leaders...are...turning their backs on the reality of the atomic bombings and the message of the hibakusha.''
This year's memorial has been overshadowed by events such as then Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma's remark in late June that the atomic bombing of Japan ''could not be helped,'' and the slaying in April of then Nagasaki Mayor Itcho Ito.
Meanwhile, the legal battle continues between hibakusha and the government over recognition of their illnesses as caused by the atomic bombing, and the anniversary follows the crushing defeat of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors election in late July.
In light of public worries that Japan might amend the war-renouncing Constitution to strengthen its alliance with the United States, Akiba urged the government in his Peace Declaration presented at the memorial ceremony to ''protect, as is, the Peace Constitution, while clearly saying 'No,' to obsolete and mistaken U.S. policies.''
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