U.S. shows at Hiroshima Ground Zero commemoration.

Some of my writings from five years ago, after I visited Hiroshima:

Visit to Hiroshima

Moral ambiguities about the bomb

Was the Hiroshima Bomb wrong?

I am happy to see that Ambassador Roos visited the 65th anniversary commemoration in Hiroshima. There are many moral ambiguities in war, and in 1945, America’s use of a new weapon brought those together in one place in the span of a few seconds.

I would be concerned if the Ambassador were being used as a tool to deliver some anti-American message, Futenma-style, to the rest of the world. But I see nothing wrong with making a respectful visit. The people in Hiroshima payed a terrible price for a fascist military let loose on the rest of Asia; on America’s and the allies’ defense of the Pacific. I think both stories can be told, and should, without necessarily having one run into the other.