Tsuyuko
Nakao, 92, prays for victims of the atom bombing of Hiroshima
yesterday.
Many of the 220,000 survivors of the atomic attacks, known
in Japanese
as hibakusha, want President Obama to come to Hiroshima
on his upcoming
visit to Japan.
Asahi Shimbun, Japan
Hiroshima Bomb
Survivors to Obama: 'Come Stand Here'
"If Mr.
Obama would stand on the site where so many lives were instantly lost, it would
be the strongest message possible toward building 'a world without nuclear weapons.'
However, we doubt Obama he shares the motives of the atomic bomb survivors for wanting
a nuclear-free world."
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Jon Roos makes history, as the first representative of the United States to attend ceremonies surrounding the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, August 6.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan John
Roos attended the peace memorial ceremony on Friday to commemorate the 65th
anniversary of Hiroshima's atomic bombing.
This was the first time that an
ambassador from the country that dropped the atomic bomb attended the ceremony.
Two other nuclear powers, Britain and France also sent envoys for the first
time. After visiting Nagasaki the previous day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
also attended, marking the first time the head of the world body has done so.
The Hiroshima city government
has been sending invitations to the nuclear powers for 12 years. At long last, its
efforts are bearing fruit.
In a speech delivered in
Prague in April 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed his determination
to create "a world without nuclear weapons." Never before has the
momentum for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation been as great as it is
now.
We must take advantage of this
trend to encourage moves toward the abolition of nuclear weapons.
For some time now, one hibakusha [survivor] of
the atomic bombings of Hiroshima has been sending letters to President Obama. In
January 2009, soon after his inauguration, Akihiro Takahashi, former director
of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, sent the president a letter. It read in
part, "Please visit Hiroshima ... we should make your visit to Hiroshima
the beginning of a new age of reconciliation for all humankind."
Under the George W. Bush Administration,
moves toward nuclear disarmament completely stopped. Takahashi sent his letter
expecting the new president to take a different course.
After his Prague speech, Obama
took steps to advance nuclear disarmament. In July 2009, he led the G8 summit as
it issued a statement on nuclear disarmament. In April, the United States
released the Nuclear Posture Review, signed a new treaty on nuclear arms
reductions with Russia and hosted the first Nuclear Security Summit. And each
time Mr. Takahashi heard of these developments, he wrote a letter. So far, he
has written four.
"What the survivors want
is not nuclear disarmament. What we want is the absolute rejection and
abolition of nuclear weapons," he wrote.
On Aug. 6, 1945, Takahashi, then
a second-year high school student, played in the schoolyard 1.4 km from ground
zero. He suffered severe burns on more than a third of his body, including the
back of his head, his back, both hands and feet. A shard of glass stuck in his
finger, deforming his nail and turning it black. His nail is on display in the
museum.
Takahashi wants President Obama
to visit Hiroshima and see the results of nuclear weapons use. Takahashi
believes a visit by Obama would be a step forward in abolishing nuclear weapons.
This is a feeling that is likely shared by the 220,000 hibakusha across
Japan, whose average age is 76.
If Mr. Obama
would stand on the site where so many lives were instantly lost, it would be
the strongest message possible toward building "a world without nuclear
weapons." However, we doubt he shares the motives of the atomic bomb survivors
for wanting a nuclear-free world.
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attacks against the United States, fear of nuclear terrorism grew. The danger
of terrorists gaining access to nuclear weapons became a major security concern,
giving rise to the following logic: If terrorists get hold of nuclear weapons, nuclear
deterrence would no longer function. If so, the argument goes, it would be
safer to abolish them.
This is very different from
the humanitarian appeal of the hibakusha, who see nuclear weapons as an "absolute
evil."
"Even so, as long as the
goal is the same, we should join hands," says Hideo Tsuchiyama, a former
Nagasaki University president who survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
"To achieve the goal, we need to appeal to people both emotionally and
logically," Tsuchiyama stressed. Testimony from hibakusha awaken
people to the need to abolish nuclear weapons. But that's not enough.
One must also logically
explain the need to abolish these weapons in an international political forum to
win the understanding of global society.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Up until now, the idealistic
vision of eliminating nuclear weapons was embraced by the country that suffered
the atomic attacks, but that was never joined with the realism of nuclear
deterrence, which was advocated by the nuclear powers. There is also the fact
that Japan is now protected by the U.S. "nuclear umbrella."
The will of civil society, including
the hibakusha, has never been taken into account by the extremely political
nature of nuclear strategy. Idealism and realism seemed destined to forever remain
apart. But now, a tiny contact point is about to form.
The attendance by U.S. Ambassador
Roos at the Hiroshima ceremony is symbolic. The U.S. State Department explains,
however, that Roos' attendance is aimed at "expressing respect for all of
the victims of World War II." The U.S. State Department has no choice but
to consider U.S. public opinion, which continues to be dominated by arguments
that justify the atomic bombings.
To prevent the anti-nuclear
trend from becoming a passing fad, we must work out a process for abolishing
nuclear weapons and turn that into actual policy. Moreover, with persistent
diplomatic negotiations, we must form a net to encircle the nuclear powers.
For example, the final
document of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty in May referred for the first time to a nuclear weapons ban. There are treaties
in the works to ban chemical and biological weapons, and moves to abolish them
are making progress. The idea is to create a similar treaty to ban nuclear
weapons.
Referring to the final
document, Douglas Roche, honorary chairman of the international nongovernmental
organization Middle Powers Initiative and a former Canadian ambassador for disarmament,
said such a treaty is on the table. He's calling for international talks to be prepared.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
A model draft treaty was
released by in 1997 by International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War.
The United States and other
nuclear powers have maintained a passive stance. But now that the situation has
so dramatically changed, interest in such a treaty, indispensable for realizing
abolition, is growing. We should take steps to advance these preparations.
Treaties to ban anti-personnel
land mines and cluster bombs were established thanks largely to national lawmakers
who cooperated with NGOs and appealed to their governments. We should make use
of such a strategy for nuclear weapons.
Using the incredible destruction
wrought by the atomic bombings as a starting point, a network should be built
comprising not only government officials, but experts, local governments, NGOs
and citizens.
As the only country to have
suffered atomic bombings, Japan must take the lead.
