Did Obama Give A Message for Nuclear Disarmament at Hiroshima?

     There is a large Peace Park, as we call it, at the centre of Hiroshima city.  Mr. Obama spent about 50 minutes in its compound in the evening of 27 May 2016.  He saw the Museum, laid a wreath at the tomb of the deceased by the Bomb, talked to a couple of hibakusha (survivors), watched what is known as the Atomic Dome at some distance.  Above all he made a speech, said to be 17-minute long, which was no doubt broadcast all over the world.  What did he say then?

 

     He said, 'We come to mourn the dead, including over 100,000 Japanese men, women and children, thousands of Koreans and a dozen Americans held prisoner.'  And also, '...the memory of the morning of August 6, 1945 must never fade.'   So far very good.

     He talked about two hibakusha in high esteem.  '...the woman who forgave the pilot who flew the plane that dropped the atomic bomb because she recognized what she really hated was war itself; the man who sought out families of Americans killed here because he believed their loss was equal to his own.'  Very moving words.

     About the nuclear disarmament, he said, and this is what we wanted to hear, that 'Among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them.'  Very encouraging.  

     But he continued that 'We may not realize this goal in my lifetime'  This is exactly what he said at Praha seven years ago.  It is as if there has been no progress on his part.  Why is it so?

     I think we may find the reason in a different portion of his speech, where he said that 'And since that fateful day we have made choices that give us hope. The United States and Japan forged not only an alliance...'.  This is a military alliance and both Japan and the US are committed to the doctrine, of cold-war origin and long outdated, of nuclear deterrence.  As long as you stick to that theory how could you be expected to move ahead toward the nuclear-free society?  

     In another part also Obama said that 'We may not be able to eliminate man's capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we formed must possess the means to protect ourselves'.  Here he speaks of the alliances in a plural form, which suggests that all the alliances are based on the above-mentioned theory.

     Thus, regrettably, we may have to conclude that Mr. Obama has given no clear desire, let alone a plan, for nuclear disarmament.  This goes against the high hopes and expectations of millions of people who watched him speak at no other place than Hiroshima the day before yesterday evening. 

  

 

A Murder again in Okinawa

     Just on the eve of Mr. Obama's visit to Japan, a horrible thing has been found in connection with the US military stationed in Okinawa Prefecture.  A 20-year old Japanese girl, working and living in Okinawa with her fiance, has been missing since 28 April.  On 19 May the police apprehended a 32-year old American male, who followed her, raped her, stabbed her, seized her by the throat, and finally left her body in the forest.  He was an ex-Marine stationed in Okinawa, and was working at a US base as an  engineer.

     The Coordinator of the four US services in Okinawa, together with the US Consul-General, called on the Deputy Governor of the Prefecture to offer their apologies.  Japan's Foreign Minister called the US Ambassador, Madame Kennedy, to his office to protest.  Again a word was given for observing stricter discipline in and out of the US Bases.  But those words have never been kept.  The heinous crimes by the US soldiers or ex-soldiers in Okinawa, such as murder, rape, burglary and arson, have been continuing to occur at the rate of more than a dozen a year.

     Why is it so?  It is because those Americans are not there to defend Japan, but to be deployed in whatever wars and operations the US may start in wherever part of the world.  In other words they are being trained there to kill, not to live and let live, with scarcely any concern with such a thing as the human rights.  Therefore as long as they are there the residents are in danger.  They are not wanted.

     The funeral of the girl was held, and was attended by hundreds of people, among them the Governor of Okinawa, Mr. Onaga.  Many of her former high school-mates were seen in tears. Japan's Prime Minister, Mr. Abe is going to accompany Mr. Obama to Hiroshima.  This would otherwise have added his prestige.  But if he does not put a strong protest now, which he is not very likely to do, his reputation will be greatly damaged.      

Obama's Hiroshima Visit

     President Obama, who made a famous speech at Praha, hoping for a nuclear-free world shortly after his inauguration in April 2009, is coming to Hiroshima on 27 May, on his way home from the Summit meeting at a different part of Japan, it was announced on 10.  This is going to be the first as an incumbent US President.  That should by itself be meaningful.  First an American Ambassador to Japan, followed by other high officials, and finally Secretary John Kelly earlier this year, visited the city so far.  The US must have admitted that now the ground has been prepared for the Presidential one.

     Everyone in Japan would hope that he would visit Nagasaki city also. What is more important is what he is coming for even if it is only Hiroshima.  Is it only symbolic in some sense, as a State Department spokesperson said?  Of course some may think that the visit itself is an expression of an apology.  But I would not deem a visit itself as an apology.  I strongly feel that if Obama comes empty-handed, so to speak, if his visit simply contributes to the status quo of the global nuclear weapons situation, it will make more harm than no visit at all.

     If Obama wants to be true to his Praha speech, made in the full view of the whole world, he must say something at Hiroshima which is reflective on the past, or would make the humanity more hopeful for the future.  For one thing he may well express regret on the dropping of the bombs.  After all the US has been the only user of these weapons so far.  Many Americans also, mostly at the numerous experiments, have suffered.  Gandhi of India expressed the opinion that not only the soul of the Japanese was destroyed, but of those who dropped the bombs could be brought into question.  Only if and when Obama expresses his regret on the past, he may show himself to be negative on the further use of these weapons.  Only then he can give a message for the future.

     For another, his message should be such that it will contribute to nuclear disarmament in the world.  As far as Japan-US relations are concerned, there is a secret agreement that in case of emergency the US can bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa.  It has been in place since 1969 when it was signed by the US President and the Japanese Prime Minister.  Obama can cancel it in his discretion.  By doing so he may disown the theory of nuclear deterrence which provides a theoretical ground for all the nuclear powers for their nuclear armament.

     At the same time, we in Japan must be aware that Obama's Hiroshima visit will also be an opportunity to think why that war was started.  If we had not done so, or even if we had ended the war a little earlier, the bombs would not have been used at all.  We should watch how the Asian peoples would react to Obama's message.

     Finally let us look at DPRK(North Korea).  By the 7th Labour Party Congress which ended on 9 May, they have put up a slogan of "parallel development" of nuclearization and industrialization. Is there no room for a dialogue any more?  I do not think so.  But the preparation for nuclear disarmament on the part of the US is a vital precondition.  It will greatly ease the tension in the Northeastern Asia.