Remember Hiroshima, start campaigning for nuclear disarmament
The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict.
The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were little toys compared with modern nuclear weapons. If they are used again, it will lead to the downfall and annihilation of all mankind. The sooner they are abolished the better. There is an urgent need for a new campaign for nuclear disarmament.
Bells tolled in Hiroshima on Saturday (August 6) as the city marked the 77th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bombing, with officials including the United Nations Secretary General warning of a new arms race following the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The war in Ukraine is in fact a war between Russia and USA/NATO by proxy. The USA and NATO are responsible for provoking the war with their hegemonic, militaristic expansion across most of Europe, surrounding Russia with military bases, including nuclear weapons.
The Russian government fell into their trap and started what is virtually a civil war between Russians and Ukrainians. And civil wars are the most nasty wars, as we know from experience in Cyprus.
Now USA/NATO do everything they can to prolong the war, sending weapons, making their weapon industries richer. As Henry Kissinger himself has warned, this could lead to uncontrollable escalations, including a nuclear holocaust.
Back in Hiroshima, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres joined the thousands packed into the Peace Park in the centre of the city to mark the anniversary of the bombing that killed 140,000 before the end of 1945.
“Almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are held in arsenals around the world. And crises with grave nuclear undertones are spreading fast — from the Middle East, to the Korean peninsula, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Guterres said.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who has chosen Hiroshima as the site of next year’s Group of Seven summit, called on the world to abandon nuclear weapons.
“Now that the use of nuclear weapons has become a real issue…I appeal loudly to the people of the world, here from Hiroshima, that we can never repeat the horrors of the use of nuclear weapons,” he said.
At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945, the US B-29 warplane Enola Gay dropped a bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” and obliterated the city with an estimated population of 350,000. Thousands more died later from injuries and radiation-related illnesses.
The Hiroshima catastrophe was followed by the US military’s atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, instantly killing more than 75,000 people. Japan surrendered six days later, ending World War Two.
