There are few things that change history as much as war. Ask anyone who's lived through one and they'll tell you what it was like surviving it. But what if there are no survivors? Over 140,000 people perished within seconds of the United States dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima 63 years ago today. This morning, Japan marked the bomb drop at a ceremony in Hiroshima, and called for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The nuclear attack subsequently killed many more through radiation and some of those who suffered attended today's ceremony. I think it would've been a perfect moment for George Bush to call off his government's nuclear programme and publicly apologise for his country's past role in mass killing 140,000 civilians. But that wasn't to be as Bush was engaged in pressuring North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons.
Mayor of Hiroshima Tadatoshi Akiba is trying to bring together mayors from around the world in a ‘Mayors for Peace' network calling for an end to nuclear weapons. Our own London mayor Boris Johnson has pulled out of this group despite leading the capital of a country capable of mass destruction if it were to use its nuclear weapons. Britain, as a nuclear power, has a responsibility never to cause destruction like the Hiroshima bombing in 1945. Pulling out of ‘Mayors for Peace' (which already has 2,368 member cities in 131 countries) is definitely not a step in that direction.
The US government is a worse culprit as it was one of only three nations to counter a UN resolution for the abolition of nuclear arms that was initiated by Japan. And with a few weeks still to go until the US gets a new president, it is difficult to predict what they'll do to Iran as the Bush administration deceitfully tries to pick a fight. If Hiroshima's 63rd anniversary isn't enough to make the US see the light, then you only have to wait two days until Nagasaki's.
Video, via Making Waves:
