Nagasaki Mayor Calls On Nuclear Umbrella Countries To Give Up Weapons
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Baku. Azerbaijan. August 9. Nuclear powers and
states under a nuclear umbrella must change their policies and work
towards the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. This was
stated by the mayor of Nagasaki, Shiro Suzuki, during a memorial
ceremony on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the American
atomic bombing of the city, Trend reports with reference to TASS .
"As long as nuclear weapons exist, the threat to humanity will
only grow," said Shiro Suzuki.
"Leaders of nuclear powers and countries under a nuclear
umbrella! You must face the reality that as long as nuclear weapons
exist, the threat to humanity will only grow," he noted, stressing
that these states must make a sharp turn in their policies and move
towards the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Suzuki added
that a personal visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki will help the
leaders of such states understand the horror of nuclear
weapons.
Japan itself is under the US nuclear umbrella.
The ceremony is taking place amid a scandal surrounding the
decision of a number of Western ambassadors, primarily the United
States, to refrain from visiting Nagasaki due to the city
authorities' decision not to invite Israeli representatives to the
ceremony in connection with the situation in the Gaza Strip. As a
result, the US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel refused to
participate in the ceremony. His example was followed by
ambassadors from a number of other countries, including Australia,
Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada and France. These countries
are represented at the ceremony at the level of consuls and other
diplomats. In total, representatives of about 100 countries and
regions are taking part in the mourning events in the Peace Park.
Diplomats from Russia and Belarus were again not invited to the
ceremony in Nagasaki due to the situation in Ukraine. Nagasaki
became the second Japanese city after Hiroshima to be subjected to
an American nuclear strike in August 1945. The initial target of
the B-29 bomber piloted by Major Charles Sweeney was the city of
Kokura, located in the north of the island of Kyushu. Due to a
combination of circumstances, there was heavy cloud cover over
Kokura on the morning of August 9, so Sweeney decided to turn the
plane southwest and head for Nagasaki.
There, the Americans also faced bad weather, but the plutonium
bomb was eventually dropped. It was almost twice as powerful as the
"Little Boy" atomic bomb used in Hiroshima on August 6, but due to
imprecise aiming and the local terrain, the damage from the
explosion was somewhat reduced. Nevertheless, the consequences of
the bombing were catastrophic: 70,000 residents died at the moment
of the explosion, the city was practically wiped off the face of
the earth. Thousands of people later died from the effects of
radiation.
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