Thanks again for signing our letter to President Obama, calling on him to make his visit to Hiroshima a meaningful step toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. We delivered the letter, with nearly 1500 signatures, before Obama spoke in Hiroshima. Right up until the last moment there was media speculation that the President would not meet with hibakusha and would not make a major speech.
We’re very pleased that President Obama went to Hiroshima. We’re glad that he toured the A-bomb museum in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and laid a wreath at the cenotaph. And we’re very glad that he heeded our call to meet with hibakusha. Obama gave an emotional, rhetorically-soaring anti-war speech, reaffirming his commitment to pursue a world without nuclear weapons – albeit with the caveat “We may not realize this goal in my lifetime.” While the President did not offer an apology for the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki he did hint at one, stating: “We’re not bound by genetic code to repeat the mistakes of the past.”
President Obama pulled off a magnificent symbolic act as the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima. But to quote a famous old advertising line, “Where’s the beef?” Obama did not respond to our call to back up his disarmament rhetoric with bold action. Tragically, President Obama’s words in Hiroshima are contradicted by his dismal record on nuclear disarmament. His administration has reduced the nuclear stockpile less than any post-Cold War presidency, and has laid the ground-work to spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to upgrade the U.S. nuclear arsenal. And the Obama Administration’s aggressive policies toward Russia and China are fueling growing tensions between nuclear-armed giants.
But Obama’s visit to Hiroshima has generated a level media attention to the dangers of nuclear weapons not seen for years. Let’s take full advantage of this media interest! I encourage you to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper commenting on the President’s visit to Hiroshima and what he didn’t say. You can draw on the letter we sent to President Obama, and I’ve also written a sample letter to the editor that you can modify. Please let us know if your letter is published by sending a note to info.ufpj@gmail.com. Many thanks for taking action!
For peace and justice in a nuclear free world,
Jackie Cabasso
National Co-convener, UFPJ
(Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation}
Sample letter to the editor [162 words]
President Obama pulled off an historic symbolic act as the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima. But to quote a famous advertising line, “Where’s the beef?” President Obama’s words in Hiroshima are contradicted by his dismal record on nuclear disarmament. His administration has reduced the nuclear stockpile less than any post-Cold War presidency, and has laid the groundwork to spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. His administration’s aggressive policies toward Russia and China are fueling growing tensions between nuclear-armed giants. Actions speak louder than words. President Obama should initiate a process to negotiate in good faith the early elimination of nuclear weapons, as required by the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. As a concrete interim step he should dramatically reduce the U.S. nuclear arsenal and urge Russia to do the same. And he should cancel the $1 trillion, 30-year program to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and redirect those funds to meet human needs.
