Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a native of Hiroshima, attended the commemoration dedicated to the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing on August 6, 2022. The attack claimed more than 140,000 lives.





Bells tolled in the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Saturday to mark the 77th anniversary of the world's first atomic bombing.

In Peace Park in central Hiroshima, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among leaders gathered to mark the precise moment that the United States dropped the atomic bomb, resulting in 140,000 deaths by the end of 1945, many of them instantaneous upon the bomb's impact. It is only the second time that a UN Secretary-General has taken part in the annual event.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a native of Hiroshima, was also in attendance.



A moment of silence and doves for peace
The crowds, which included leaders and diplomats, observed a moment of silence at the exact time the bomb exploded. Hundreds of doves, a symbol of peace, were released.

On August 6, 1945 at 8:15 a.m., the US B-29 warplane Enola Gay dropped the atomic bomb, given the nickname "Little Boy." Three days later, on August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 75,000 people instantly and leading to Japan's unconditional surrender in the war.

The city of Hiroshima, with a population of 350,000 at the time, was leveled immediately and, in addition to the people killed with the atomic bomb's impact, thousands later died of injuries and radiation sickness.




Guterres: "We are one mistake 'away from Armageddon"
The anniversary comes amid renewed concerns about nuclear proliferation, with Guterres warning of an arms race after Russia's decision to invade Ukraine on February 24.

Russia's seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine in March and its use as a base of military operations ever since has also heightened concerns about the safety of civilian nuclear power.

"We are one mistake, one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from Armageddon," Guterres said.

"Three-quarters of a century later, we must ask what we've learned from the mushroom cloud that swelled above this city in 1945," he added.

Guterres did not mention Russia directly in his address.


The Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui was more critical of Moscow in his remarks.

"In invading Ukraine, the Russian leader, elected to protect the lives and property of his people, is using them as instruments of war, stealing the lives and livelihoods of civilians in a different country," Matsui said.

"Around the world," Matsui said, "the notion that peace depends on nuclear deterrence gains momentum."


Prime Minister Kishida told Guterres that he strongly condemns China's recent ballistic missile launches as "a serious issue concerning Japan's security and the safety of Japanese people," according to an official statement.

The Russian ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Galuzin, laid flowers at the site of a memorial stone in the park on Thursday. Galuzin told reporters that his country would not use nuclear weapons. Since the Ukraine war started, Vladimir Putin said Russia would use its nuclear arsenal to "defend its sovereignty" and state TV hosts routinely take a bellicose tone on the matter.

Ahmback:
As stupid as this may sound, nobody, i repeat, nobody ever talks about the pains caused to U.S Servicemen during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour. These people were fathers and mother of humans as well. Make una dey sha reason things from both sides nah

AlphaTaikun:

Yeah! This is the reason why annual memorials are done for those servicemen who passed on in that horrendous attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by Imperial Japan.

The Japanese too were busy colonising and invading nearby countries, raping women during the invasion of Nanking Province in China and behaving dictatorially in the 1930s and early 1940s. Japan being resource-poor wanted access to mineral resources such as crude oil and metals so they had to invade Korea, China, and other lands to get these resources.

They miscalculated, attacked Pearl Habor and... Boom got hit by the United States with the two atomic bombs on August 6th and 9th, 1945.

Ahmback:
Some say the U.S' attack on Japan wasn't justified! What do u have to say about it?

AlphaTaikun:

@Ahmback,

To be brutally honest, it was "kinda justified" because Imperial Japan was proving stubborn even after the Germans had surrendered during WW11. The Japs kept on fighting (and we know that many Nigerian and West African servicemen were on active duty against the Japanese in Burma [now Myanmar]. The Africans in the Colonial Armies fought bravely against the hardened Japanese).

On the other hand, the targets in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had NO MAJOR MILITARY facilities or significance [just like the Allied bombing of civilian targets in Dresden, Germany, popularly called the "fire-bombing of Dresden." Over 100,000 innocent German men, women and children died and were burned and/or partially burned to ashes during the several air-raids on Dresden].

War can be that brutal!

AlphaTaikun:

@Ahmback,

To be brutally honest, it was "kinda justified" because Imperial Japan was proving stubborn even after the Germans had surrendered during WW11. The Japs kept on fighting (and we know that many Nigerian and West African servicemen were on active duty against the Japanese in Burma [now Myanmar]. The Africans in the Colonial Armies fought bravely against the hardened Japanese).

On the other hand, the targets in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had NO MAJOR MILITARY facilities or significance [just like the Allied bombing of civilian targets in Dresden, Germany, popularly called the "fire-bombing of Dresden." Over 100,000 innocent German men, women and children died and were burned and/or partially burned to ashes during the several air-raids on Dresden].

War can be that brutal!

Bentizil:

Stop trying to justify to justify US terror attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it say a lot of you guys hypocrisy... Hundredth of thousand of people bro damn...

No amount of pearl harbor attack can make US bombing of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki..., Japan was bound to lose against the allied. Couple with Soviet entry, they've no chance...

Say things as it is, US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki isn't justified..

AlphaTaikun:

@Ahmback,

To be brutally honest, it was "kinda justified" because Imperial Japan was proving stubborn even after the Germans had surrendered during WW11. The Japs kept on fighting (and we know that many Nigerian and West African servicemen were on active duty against the Japanese in Burma [now Myanmar]. The Africans in the Colonial Armies fought bravely against the hardened Japanese).

On the other hand, the targets in Hiroshima and Nagasaki had NO MAJOR MILITARY facilities or significance [just like the Allied bombing of civilian targets in Dresden, Germany, popularly called the "fire-bombing of Dresden." Over 100,000 innocent German men, women and children died and were burned and/or partially burned to ashes during the several air-raids on Dresden].

War can be that brutal!

Ahmback:
But the killing of US men is justified, right? Bushmeat!
To think the U.S weren't even fighting the war cause they saw it as european tribal shit.

Ahmback:
Those are "colateral damage". Used to pressure the enemy to surrender.

Bentizil:

Hey! Learn to differentiate between a military target attack and a deliberate attack on innoncent civilians...
US is not neutral in anything, just like saying China is neutral now when we all know they secretly support Russia...

Once again, the entry of Soviet into the pacific war is already a loss to the Japanese and bombing is not necessary... No matter how strong the Japanese are, they cannot defeat a force containing Soviet, US with allies army...

They were bound to lose in the long run so why the unnecessary bombing and killing of over 200k civilian?..

mysticwarrior:
the bombing of pearl harbor was targetted at military personnel, while the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a deliberate act to slaughter unarmed civilians, women, children and even babies, its a perfect description of war crimes and crime against humanity.

Ahmback:
It was inevitable. The other alternative was a direct conflict between the two which would have resulted in even more losses, both civilian and military.

Bentizil:

It wasn't inevitable, It's a war crime and should be termed so...
With the Soviet entry, the war is already a loss to the japanese and they're bound to lose more territory and even an occupation of their main island just like German...

The Soviet entry into the
war was a significant factor in the Japanese
government's decision to surrender
unconditionally, as it was made apparent that
the Soviet Union was not willing to act as a
third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on
conditional terms...

It's not easy to fight on two front not when you're faced with super powers on both front... I still maintain that bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki civilian population is not necessary and a war crime...

AlphaTaikun:

This will also be of interest to you @mysticwarrior,

=>https://www.dw.com/en/commemorating-the-legacy-of-the-wwii-bombing-of-dresden/a-52355581


Allied bombing of Dresden: Legitimate target or war crime?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwkMo1_rWM0
DW News · 13 Feb 2020

mysticwarrior:


Read your write up carefully and listen to how you sound, inasmuch as you might be sounding right to yourself, you are very wrong to those of us who are abreast with the rules of war. intentionally killing unarmmed civilians during war is crime of war.

Bentizil:

Calm down and read what you wrote...

Bentizil:

Calm down and read what you wrote...

mysticwarrior:
thank you so much, I just finished reading it and I feel sorry for those innocent German citizens.

naptu2:
Mumusaphire, DamianX, Slickest, jrusky, Ilaje1, Asianjollof007, Rahkman, xynerise, SaturnNick and Sunnydoo will soon be here to tell you that you can't use the word anniversary (they don't know the meaning of the word).

AlphaTaikun:
Today, August 9th, 2022 marks the 77th year of the atomic
bombing of Nagasaki.

The atomic bomb was meant for another nearby Japanese city, but because of very heavy clouds, the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki and it landed in a valley thereby
preventing a firestorm like what happened in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 and Dresden, Germany in 1945 as well.


President Harry Truman also gave
a recorded speech before the second atomic bombing telling all Japanese civilians to leave the cities because of the imminent bombing (which today would definitely have amounted to war crimes under current international laws). About
75,000 Japanese residents of
Nagasaki lost their lives in the bombing which even missed it's original target and landed in the valley in Nagasaki.


Iran and other fundamentalist and renegade countries
MUST be prevented from having high-grade uranium for military use. Russia, North Korea and China must be prevailed upon to learn from the horrendous events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to prevent mankind's rapid decimation, and eventual descent into fighting with sticks and stones.

Period.




Seun, Mynd44, Lalasticlala, Naptu2, 1stGenAmerican,
Bentizil, Ahmback, mysticwarrior

Ahmback:

Thanks to AMERICA for ending a brutal war that was devastating nations and killing thousands .
I still feel it was a highhanded but necessary step there

Ahmback:

Thanks to AMERICA for ending a brutal war that was devastating nations and killing thousands .
I still feel it was a highhanded but necessary step there

Bentizil:

The war is already a loss to the Japanese with Soviet entry, the civilian bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a weapon test and war crime...

AlphaTaikun:
Tomorrow, August 9, 2022 will mark the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki as well. Mankind MUST heed the call of the UN Secretary-General to dismantle the nukes otherwise we'll become toasted bread or worse in my own words.