Japanese Official Sorry For WWII Remarks
Defense Minister Under Fire For Saying 1945 Nuclear Attacks By U.S. Were "Inevitable"
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Japan's Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma speaks during a plenary session at the IISS Asia Security Summit in this June 2, 2007 file photo, in Singapore. Kyuma said the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan by the United States during World War II was an inevitable way to end the war, a news report said Saturday, June 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)
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Photo Essay Hiroshima & Nagasaki The world's first and only atomic bombings devastate two cities and bring World War II to an end.
"I am sorry if my comments gave the impression I disrespect the victims," Kyodo News agency quoted Kyuma as saying at a news conference in Nagasaki, where he is from. "I will refrain from making such comments."
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of World War II, in the world's only nuclear attacks.
In a speech Saturday, Kyuma said, "I understand that the bombing ended the war, and I think that it couldn't be helped." His comments drew sharp criticism from survivors, and some opposition lawmakers called for his dismissal.
"The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed the two cities at once ... killing hundreds of thousands of people," said Terumi Tanaka, secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo, an A-bomb survivors group.
"His remarks are nothing but verbal abuse. ... We demand the minister retract his comments immediately," Tanaka said in a statement late Saturday.
The opposition Social Democratic Party called for Kyuma's removal from office.
"We will question Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe's appointment of him and we will call for the minister's dismissal," party policy chief Tomoko Abe said Sunday on TV Asahi before the apology was reported.
The defense minister had earlier tried to quell criticism by saying his comments had been misinterpreted.
Kyuma told reporters late Saturday he meant to say the bombing "could not be helped from the American point of view."
Prime Minister Abe reportedly played down Kyuma's remarks on Saturday, saying his understanding was that Kyuma was explaining American views.
However, other prominent members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were more critical.
Shoichi Nakagawa, LDP policy chief, urged Kyuma on Sunday to "explain what he really meant and quickly respond if he thinks his comments have caused trouble," without elaborating.
The embarrassment comes as Abe's scandal-tainted government struggles to gain support from voters ahead of July 29 upper house elections.
"This will greatly impact the upper house vote as we have yet to contain the headwind" from a widening pension scandal, LDP lawmaker Yoichi Masuzoe was quoted as saying by the Nikkei business newspaper Sunday.
On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb on Hiroshima, killing at least 140,000 people. Three days later it dropped another on Nagasaki, where city officials say about 74,000 died. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.
Bombing survivors have developed various illnesses, including cancer and liver diseases, from radiation exposure.
In the United States, the bombs were widely seen as a weapon of last resort against an enemy that was determined to fight to the death, but instead surrendered unconditionally six days after Nagasaki was attacked.
Critics — including many Japanese and some Americans — believe U.S. President Harry Truman's government had other motives: a wish to test a terrifying weapon and the need to strengthen Washington's hand against Moscow in what would become the Cold War.
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."





UMMMM... What are they dim wit?
Posted by zoltaric at 02:49 PM : Jul 02, 2007
He must have been a little "Deep into his cup" or else be one of those "9/11 never happened" junkies.
Posted by draugwolf at 11:23 AM : Jul 01, 2007
A sad comentary on our youths eeducation. "atomic bombs aren't nuclear"
UMMMM... What are they dim wit?
This is also the route we should have taken after 9/11. If we had obliterated Afghanistan, then the message to suicide terrorists, would have been--"If you attack us, we destroy everything you love and all of your memories and future dreams--we will leave nothing and no one to mourn you, or even remember you"
THAT is a burden/end very few would want to assume or leave for their own people.
They were exploded at 2000 ft above the ground, the wind scattered the radioactivity all around and lowered the concentration.
Your right about Japan wanting to end the war, problem was, they wanted to end it on certain conditions and demands, most of all, they wanted to keep their form of government and their army, they also wanted to protect those guilty of war crimes. Their demands want on and on.
Truman demanded an "unconditional surrender" and was right in doing so.
Japan was a beaten country but the fanatics running the country wanted to fight to the last man women and child. Thinking if they ran up our casualties we would give in to their demands.
Once it was clear they were going to cease to be a people and or country on this earth they surrendered unconditionally, Except for keeping their emperor, who became MacArthers puppet.
I would like to add the Bataan death march and other atrocities committed by Japan during the war in the pacific.
The Japanese were arming their civilians with sharpened bamboo sticks and anything else that could be used against our troops to defend their "god" emperor. They were suing for peace, but on their terms, not ours.
If the bombs saved only one American life ( we know they saved many more)then I applaud their use.
Truman targeted civilian populations instead of military targets. Truman became a terrorist, a nut case. Since that time America has detonated 1,120 Atomic bombs in the Pacific, Nevada, and New Mexico. USA 1120, Russia 715, China 45, UK 45, France 210, India 6, Pakistan 6.There is no such thing as a test. It is real, and it contaminates and wrecks our food chain, and infects our bodies and its chemistry. How many radioactive or poisoned fish have you consumed from the ocean? How about all the coral reefs that are simply dying off around the world? The terrorists are the nuclear nuts.
Fewer people died at Pearl Harbor than died in the World Trade Center. Something like 200,000 died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, the majority of whom were civilians. How does one define terrorism?
Next time anyone starts spewing about how evil and/or crazy anyone in the Middle-East is, keep in mind that the ONLY nation ever to nuke anyone in the history of the world, was the United States. It isn't something to be proud of.
- by retiredmilty July 1, 2007 6:24 AM EDT
- Before all the bleeding hearts start decrying the A-Bombing on Japan, let me say three words . . .
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