64 Years After The Bomb

64 years ago the United States became the only nation in the world to use nuclear weapons in a war. That afternoon, the Japanese city of Hiroshima turned into a firestorm and 140,000 people were killed or died soon after from radiation poisoning.

Arguments continue as to the ethics and justification for unleashing the nuclear weapons on the world. Was there no other option? Was Japan ready to seek a peace deal anyway? The historical record is muddied by the political agendas of the players at the time. Now we can only look back and hope that it will never happen again.

The mayor of Hiroshima today called for abolishing nuclear weapons entirely. As the only country to have ever been attacked by these weapons Japan is in a unique position to make this plea. My hope is that the world will listen.