Stephen Lendman -- Obama in Hiroshima

Obama in Hiroshima

by Stephen Lendman

Obama is the first US sitting president to visit Hiroshima. He came to flex US muscle in a part of the world not its own, not apologize for gratuitous mass murder.

The war was over. Japan was negotiating surrender. America used nuclear weapons against a defeated enemy, showing its meanness, incinerating defenseless civilians - a taste of greater viciousness to come, its endless wars of aggression, its contempt for peace, democratic values and international law.

Asked if he’d apologize for one of history’s great crimes, he said: “No, because I think that it's important to recognize that in the midst of war, leaders make all kinds of decisions.”

“It's a job of historians to ask questions and examine them, but I know as somebody who has now sat in this position for the last seven and a half years, that every leader makes very difficult decisions, particularly during wartime.”

The notion that nuking Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved lives by avoiding an invasion is one of history’s great lies. None was intended or needed. Japan was defeated.

America wages endless wars of choice, not necessity. Nations threatening no one are raped and destroyed, millions killed from war, related violence, disease, starvation and overall deprivation.

No nation in history caused more harm to more people over a longer duration than America. None more greatly threaten world peace.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki are two of many examples of US depravity, its lawlessness, its rage for dominance no matter the cost in human lives and welfare.

Obama visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, joined by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - expressing contempt for peace and stability in a world without nuclear weapons - not the other way around as the White House claimed prior to his arrival.

Saying his visit “offer(s) a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future” belies reality in its multiple war theaters.

His presence in Hiroshima is a thumb in the eye to millions of US war victims, its responsibility for most of history’s greatest crimes, Obama’s rage for endless wars of conquest.

His call for abolishing nuclear weapons was and remains pure subterfuge. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent upgrading America’s arsenal, not dismantling it, risking humanity’s survival.

Obama saying “(p)art of the reason (he’s) going (to Hiroshima) is (to) underscore the very real risks that are out there and the sense of urgency that we all should have” ignores America’s endless war agenda, the risk it’ll use nuclear weapons again - next time potentially ending life on earth.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

posted by Steve Lendman @ 4:23 AM