Obama visits Hiroshima: Killing two birds with one stone

Obama's upcoming sensitive visit to Hiroshima contains important messages for public opinion at home and abroad.

US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Photo: AP

On May 10, the White House announced that Mr. Obama will be the first US president to visit Hiroshima during his trip to Japan at the end of the month, but he will not apologize for the US dropping an atomic bomb on the city at the end of World War II, according to CNN.

The two atomic bombs that the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed more than 200,000 Japanese people, and to this day remain a topic of endless debate in American public opinion.

Most historians believe that President Harry Truman's decision to use the atomic bomb was correct, ending the war quickly and saving many American soldiers from meaningless sacrifice. However, many others believe that the action was unnecessary, because the Japanese fascists were exhausted at that time and would soon surrender to the Allies.

Vincent Michelot, professor of American political history at the University of Lyon, commented that President Obama's visit to Hiroshima was not intended to confirm who was right and who was wrong, but simply wanted to demonstrate America's broad vision for the future of relations between the two countries.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it was "entirely legitimate" for historians and the American people to debate President Truman's decision to drop the bomb. However, that is not what the US president will do when he visits Hiroshima. What Mr. Obama wants to show is to emphasize that the relationship between the US and Japan has become better than ever since 1945.

"The prime minister of the only country to suffer atomic bomb attacks and the leader of the only country in the world to have used atomic weapons will come together to remember the victims. And this is also a way to share with the survivors who are still suffering," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will accompany Mr. Obama on the visit, affirmed.

Scene of devastation in Hiroshima, August 1946. Photo: AP

Philippe Pons, Asia commentator for Le Monde, said that with his visit to the Peace Park, near where the bomb fell in 1945, President Obama hopes to promote global efforts to limit the spread, and even move towards total nuclear disarmament.

At the beginning of his first term in 2010, President Obama signed with Russia the New START Treaty on reducing nuclear weapons and warheads, effective within 10 years.

The first visit by a US president to Hiroshima so far allows the White House chief to emphasize the importance of the nuclear deal reached with Tehran more than a year ago, one of Mr. Obama's major foreign policy achievements in his second term.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui praised Obama's planned visit as a bold, conscientious and reasonable decision. Matsui hoped the US president would listen to the stories of survivors of the disaster. Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said President Obama would "send a strong message toward a world without nuclear weapons."

Response to Donald Trump

Expert Michelot said that in the context of the fierce US presidential campaign, Mr. Obama's visit to Hiroshima is a strong response to the "ignorant" statements about foreign policy of Republican candidate Donald Trump.

The real estate tycoon recently said that two US allies, Japan and South Korea, need to possess nuclear weapons to protect themselves and reduce the security burden for the US. This statement was considered by many analysts and diplomats as "childish", going against the basic diplomatic principles that presidents of both parties have tried to maintain for decades.

In that context, the message from Mr. Obama's visit to Hiroshima promises to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton attract moderate voters who are hesitant about which side to stand on.

"It can be said that, at the end of his term, President Obama has made a smart and decisive move by demonstrating his determination to pursue his goals and at the same time supporting the candidate of the same party, who was once a strong arm in helping him implement foreign policies," Michelot commented.

According to VNE