Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Obama Set For Historic Hiroshima Visit

The Japanese national flag flutters at half-mast in the foreground of the atomic bomb dome at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, in western Japan

White House officials say President Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima later this month.
He will visit the city with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on 27 May as part of his tenth trip to Asia since taking office.
The visit will bolster Mr Obama's calls for de-nuclearisation and allow him to pay his respects to the 140,000 Japanese people killed in the bombing on 6 August, 1945.
Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, US Secretary of State John Kerry, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion offer wreaths at the Memorial Cenotaph
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the visit would "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons".
But the White House has ruled out Mr Obama apologising for the devastating atomic bombing.
  1. People ring bell to mark moment when atom bomb exploded over Hiroshima 70 years ago during a commemoration ceremony at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
    Gallery: Japan Marks 70th Anniversary Of Hiroshima Bomb
  2. Doves fly over the Peace Memorial Park with the Atomic Bomb Dome in the background, at a ceremony in Hiroshima
  3. People offer silent prayers for victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, during a ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
  4. Japan's PM Abe walks as he attends a ceremony at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
  15. People walk under the cooling mist after praying for the atomic bomb victims in front of the cenotaph for the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, during a hot summer day at Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima
In a separate blog, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said: "He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War Two.
"Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future."
Last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited the memorial at the site of the bombing and Mr Obama has long been expected to go to the city on the sidelines of the G7 economic summit.
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    Gallery: A-Bomb Destroys Japanese City Of Hiroshima
  2. pg hiroshima destruction15
  3. pg hiroshima destruction8
  4. pg hiroshima destruction1
  18. pg hiroshima destruction16
The US attacked Hiroshima in the final days of World War Two and many believe the bombing, along with that on the city of Nagasaki three days later, hastened the end of the war.
Japan surrendered on 15 August, 1945.
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