Press Release

Today, on the anniversary of nuclear annihilation of Hiroshima, ICHRRF commemorated the horrific nuclear bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6^th) and Nagasaki (August 9^th) at the very end of World War 2 in 1945.

The nuclearization of World War 2 at the tail-end, when Japanese surrender was inevitable and imminent, is an epochal event that has set a dangerous precedent for governments and the philosophy of national defense across the world.

The genocide of Japanese civilians was already in progress through the final months of the war, through daily bombing sorties. Not just civilian neighborhoods, but monuments and precious libraries were bombed, and local citizens often risked their lives to jump in and retrieve and preserve precious works of art and literature from the flames.

The nuclear attacks – not one but two in quick succession – cannot be justified in terms of saving Allied lives and forcing a quick surrender. Rather, it signaled a clear intent at civilizational warfare and genocide – a policy which was being pursued by Western colonial powers as well as the United States for at least a century prior to the great War. Even during the post-war American occupation, the Japanese monarchy was required to undertake daily Christian Bible study under a Western tutor for at least a year. The Japanese writing system was altered so that future generations would never be able to read pre-WWII Japanese literature, a large portion of which was destroyed or confiscated under funsho laws (the extinguishing of public access to old documents). Moreover, the US and Canada brutally interned their own citizens of Japanese origin and confiscated their properties and have not compensated them after their release. In Canada, the government identification and targeting of Japanese-origin citizens began even before the Pearl Harbor incident.

These nuclear weapons attacks have convinced governments that they cannot protect their sovereignty without being nuclear-capable states. It has become a singular argument driving nuclear proliferation.

Today, relations between Japan and America are good, and there is no better time to acknowledge and regret the excesses of war, particularly the morally and ethically unjustified use of nuclear weapons against the Japanese civilian population. ICHRRF appeals to the good conscience of American government officials, politicians and civil society institutions to undertake this important step, no matter how late, and no matter how hard, to begin the process of correcting a long-running toxic thought-process and arrest the mentality of a war of civilizations.

ICHRRF firmly believes in harnessing every opportunity for reconciliation, healing and mutual respect and in creating a cultural and philosophical ecosystem to foster a symbiosis and healthy competition between civilizations rather than constant warfare in gross and subtle forms.