An Admirable Statement: U.S. Has “Moral Responsibility” As Sole User of Nuclear Weapons

Obama stated firmly “. . . as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act.” At the Czech capital, Prague, he appealed for the establishment of peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons.

Let us consider this a ground-breaking speech. It is true, even if he says “moral responsibility,” it does not directly acknowledge responsibility for the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But even so, for an American president to state that his country was the only country “to have used a nuclear weapon” and assert it will take the lead in abolishing nuclear weapons for this reason – this is something you never could have seen in recent administrations. I really appreciate President Obama’s honesty.

During 2007, with the U.S. still under the Bush administration, the Japanese Minister at the time, Kyuma Fumio, created controversy by stating the atomic bomb could not have been avoided. Top U.S. officials then advanced their opinion that the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki spared the lives of a million U.S. servicemen. Regardless of its veracity, this is the prevailing belief in the U.S.

The U.S. has condemned the Saddam Hussein regime for killing its own people with chemical weapons, but does not want to mention two atomic bombs, a plutonium type and a uranium type, dropped on Japan, by the U.S., itself. If it seems unable to justify its own use of weapons of mass destruction on ordinary citizens, it must be because the U.S. bears the heavy burden of responsibility.

However, putting aside the difficult debate over responsibility, we convey this simple wish: By all means, I want President Obama to attend the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb anniversary memorial services. I believe the road toward “a world without nuclear weapons” should start with the repose of the souls whose lives were taken by those terrible weapons. The doctrine of “Those bombs saved a million American lives” only distorts America’s image.

President Obama’s encouragement of Congress to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and his call for an international summit on nuclear security have demonstrated his ideas in concrete form. The CTBT ratification was supported by the Democratic Clinton administration, but rejected in 1999, by the Senate under the leadership of the Republican Party.

In addition, he aims to strengthen the structure of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which limits nuclear weapons possession to five countries, and to initiate discussion on the “Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty” (FMCT), which addresses the prohibition of weapons-grade fissile material production. I welcome both measures.

Denuclearizing countries that possess nuclear weapons outside the NPT (like India; Pakistan; and Israel, believed to possess large numbers of nuclear warheads) is not a simple task. However, U.S. initiative in encouraging world nuclear disarmament probably is related to international efforts to obstruct weapons development in North Korea and Iran.

“Denuclearization” has been advocated by former U.S. government officials. In response to President Obama’s call for change in the world, I hope cheers of “Yes, we can!” resound.