Barack Obama will become the first serving U.S. president to visit Hiroshima during a trip to Japan later this month, the White House announced Tuesday.
The historic visit will "highlight his continued commitment to pursuing the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," it said in a statement. He will travel to the site where America dropped the atomic bomb during World War Il in the company of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as part of a wider trip that will also include Vietnam.
Abe said that the visit was a "very big decision" for Obama, and said he welcomed the president 'Trom the bottom of my heart. " "Seventy years ago, so many people were mercilessly killed by the dropping of the atomic bomb," he told reporters. "I would like this visit to be an opportunity to honor all the victims in Japan and in the United States.
He said Japan had "consistently called for the abolition of nuclear weapons." "By having President Obama visit Hiroshima and see the realities of radiation exposure, and by having him communicate his thoughts and feelings to the world, I believe this will lend great power towards a world without nuclear weapons," Abe added.
Secretary of State John Kerry last month became the to visit Hiroshima, laying a wreath and describing the museum there as "stunning" and "gut-wrenching." Former President Jimmy Carter toured the site in 1984, and Nancy Pelosi visited in 2008 while Speaker of the House of Representatives.
The U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing an estimated 140,000 people, on Aug. 6, 1945. Nagasaki was hit three days later.
Many Americans believe the atomic attacks were justified and hastened the end of the war. However,
Japanese survivors' groups have campaigned for decades to bring leaders from the U.S. and other nuclear powers to see Hiroshima's scars as part of a grassroots movement to abolish such weapons.
Obama's Japan visit coincides with his final G-7 Summit meeting in Ise-Shima.
Excerpted from President Obama 'o Make Historic Visit to Hiroshima - NBC News
Works Cited
Yamamoto, Arata. "President Obama to Make Historic Trip to Hiroshima." NBC News. N.p., 10 May 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.
Response:
Before opening the link to this article, I was taken aback a little after reading the title. I'm surprised that no other president of the United States has ever visited Hiroshima, Japan. Not only does this show progress, healing, and peace, but it symbolizes a possible future end to atomic weapons. President Abe of Japan in the interview stated that this could be the beginning of the end of atomic weapons. Although this trip was controversial, I think President Obama made the right decision in visiting this desolated place. The bias is hard to define in this article, however I think because it was a controversial move for Obama to visit Hiroshima, the article seemed to favor him in going to Hiroshima, rather than not visiting the place at all. Keeping in mind that this is not an apology from the United States, it makes me wonder why Obama is even visiting the place though. I assume that that is why the decision was a little controversial.
Japanese survivors' groups have campaigned for decades to bring leaders from the U.S. and other nuclear powers to see Hiroshima's scars as part of a grassroots movement to abolish such weapons.
Obama's Japan visit coincides with his final G-7 Summit meeting in Ise-Shima.
Excerpted from President Obama 'o Make Historic Visit to Hiroshima - NBC News
Works Cited
Yamamoto, Arata. "President Obama to Make Historic Trip to Hiroshima." NBC News. N.p., 10 May 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.
Response:
Before opening the link to this article, I was taken aback a little after reading the title. I'm surprised that no other president of the United States has ever visited Hiroshima, Japan. Not only does this show progress, healing, and peace, but it symbolizes a possible future end to atomic weapons. President Abe of Japan in the interview stated that this could be the beginning of the end of atomic weapons. Although this trip was controversial, I think President Obama made the right decision in visiting this desolated place. The bias is hard to define in this article, however I think because it was a controversial move for Obama to visit Hiroshima, the article seemed to favor him in going to Hiroshima, rather than not visiting the place at all. Keeping in mind that this is not an apology from the United States, it makes me wonder why Obama is even visiting the place though. I assume that that is why the decision was a little controversial.
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