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invasion of Japan and thus prevent the deaths of American service people. Many American schoolchildren are taught that the bombings were necessary to avert the U.S. presidents to justify the bombings and frame them as necessary are unsurprising as they mirror the hegemonic narrative in the United States regarding the bombings, which is embedded in the American education system. Moreover, in 1991, in relation to the atomic bombings, Bush also publicly made the offensive and inappropriate comment “hey let’s forget that, let’s go forward now together.”Īttempts by U.S. Bush, asserted that the decision to drop the atomic bombs “was right… because it spared millions of American lives.” Furthermore, in 1985, then President Ronald Reagan claimed that the atomic bombings “saved” “more than one million American lives.” These attempts to justify the bombings on the grounds of saving Americans lives are not new, rather, they have been mounted by U.S. Similarly, in 1992, Clinton’s predecessor, George H.W. Get the Newsletterįor example, in 1995, then President Bill Clinton stated that the United States “owes no apology to Japan” for the atomic bombings and argued that the “atomic bomb had ended the war.” This statement represented an attempt to justify the mass killing of civilians and the perpetration of war crimes by the U.S.Įnjoying this article? Click here to subscribe for full access. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific. presidents have refused to apologize and have argued that the bombings were justified and necessary. Some hibakusha have advocated in favor of the U.S. In some cases, women who were pregnant and living in Hiroshima or Nagasaki at the time of the bombings gave birth to babies with disabilities, thus indicating the intergenerational consequences of the use of nuclear weapons. Hibakusha (atomic bomb survivors) have faced ongoing psychological trauma, discrimination and increased risk of radiation-related illnesses, notably cancer. Some Koreans, many of whom were working as forced laborers in Nagasaki at the time of the bombing, were also killed. The bomb, which landed in a predominantly civilian area, immediately killed thousands and by December 1945, 90,000 people living in Nagasaki - the majority of whom were Japanese - had died due to the bombing. On August 9, the United States dropped the so-called “Fat Man” atomic bomb on the city of Nagasaki, due to clouds blocking visibility of the original target city, Kokura. By the end of 1945, 140,000 people, predominantly Japanese, but also a sizable number of Koreans, had died from injuries, radiation sickness, and burns resulting from the bombing. Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb dubbed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, killing thousands of civilians instantly. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War. government to provide compensation to all individuals affected by U.S. This unwillingness to apologize is also likely motivated by the fact that an apology may bolster international demands for the U.S. This refusal is motivated by the hegemonic narrative in the United States regarding the atomic bombings and widespread public opposition to an apology and commemorating Japanese victims. In fact, all American presidents have refused to apologize for the bombings, which occurred 75 years ago. Unfortunately, these cranes were not accompanied by an apology from Obama for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. President Barack Obama during his 2016 landmark visit to Hiroshima. Each year, thousands of visitors to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum can view two paper cranes, which represent a symbol of peace in Japan, provided by former U.S.
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