60 Years Since Hiroshima

cryptoz writes "Today is the 6th of August, 2005, exactly 60 years after the first nuclear device was used in a war. Japan remembers what happened, as do those around the world. Elswhere, we remember where the bomb hit, as well as how it worked." From the article about Japan's observation of the anniversary: "The anniversary comes as regional powers meet in Beijing to urge North Korea to give up its nuclear programme, seen by Tokyo as a threat and one of the reasons behind rising calls in Japan to strengthen its defence and seek closer military ties with the United States. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was among those attending the ceremony in Hiroshima, 690 km (430 miles) southwest of Tokyo." We've previously reported on the anniversary of the first nuclear explosion.

Comments

CBC timeline

[saskboy]

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-71-1794/conflict_war/ hiroshima/

It's a sad day in the history of humanity. The cruelty that we visit upon each other should never be forgotten.

Re:CBC timeline

[interiot]

The UN sanctions against Iraq killed more civilians (500,000 to 1,200,000) than the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined (~350,000). Tens of thousands of civilians died during and after the 2003 US Invasion of Iraq. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were undoubtedly one of the most prominent symbols of civilian casualties in the name of war, but war in general follows a close second. War is never kind to the citizens who happen to live in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We must realize that war always has a large cost on everyone involved, and only resort to physical confrontation as an absolute last resort.

Before some say 'Poor Japan'

[DAldredge]

from wikipedia.

The Japanese also engaged in mass killings; millions of Asian civilians and Allied POWs were killed by its military and/or used as forced labour. The most notorious atrocities occurred in China, including the slaughter of almost half a million Chinese during the Nanjing Massacre and Unit 731's experiments with biological warfare in Manchuria, with a view to killing a large part of the Chinese population. Japanese war crimes also included rape, pillage, murder, cannibalism and forcing female civilians to become sex slaves, known as "comfort women" .

Re:What God will say to them

[superyanthrax]

The rape of Nanking was only one incident, and was completely indicative of Japan's atrocities in Asia (China, Korea, SE Asia). See this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Japanese_War_ Atrocities
The people of China and Korea (both of them) will never forgive the Japanese for what they did in World War II during their totally unjustified quest to create the "East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere" i.e. the Japanese Empire.

It is quite interesting how the war is treated differently in regards to the treatment of Japan and Germany. When one talks about Germany during World War II, all he/she usually talks about is the Holocaust and other acts of Nazi brutality. Rarely is the plight of the German people mentioned. This in my opinion is totally justified. However, when one talks about the Japanese, a quite significant number will choose to talk about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and how terrible it was for the Japanese civilians. The story that the first poster put up may be touching, but if you listen to the stories of the many millions of Chinese and Koreans who were brutalized, this story seems trite and insignificant in comparison. In my opinion much more focus should be put on Japan's war atrocities, just like Germany's war atrocities are commonly focused upon.

As a Chinese native living in the USA, I am surprised daily as to how many people feel sympathy for the Japanese b/c they were nukes, because I can never bring myself to feel such sympathy. To sympathize with them, is to denigrate the millions of my countrymen who were brutally slaughtered.