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| Doves fly during the ceremony marking the 65th atomic bomb anniversary in Hiroshima Peace Park, Japan, Aug. 6, 2010. Japan's Hiroshima marked the 65th atomic bomb anniversary on Friday, calling for a world free of nuclear weapons. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng) |
TOKYO, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- In a historic move by Washington, U.S. ambassador John Roos was present at a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on Friday, 65 years after the Japanese city was leveled by an atomic bomb.
Although not speaking directly to the public, or indeed apologizing for the U.S. atomic attacks, as some members of the Japanese public including survivors of the attacks had hoped for, Roos, the first representative sent by the U.S. to attend the annual ceremony, by way of a press release posted on the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo's website expressed his wish for a nuclear free world.
Roos maintained that it was in the best interest of future generations that a world devoid of nuclear weapons is realized and that the 65th anniversary of the end of the Second World War represented a fitting reminder of the tragedy of war and the need for global unity in achieving U.S. President Barack Obama's vision of a nuclear free world.
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Washington attending the annual ceremony held in Hiroshima was generally well received by the Japanese public, with one attendee telling Xinhua that Roos' placing of a wreath to commemorate the lives lost in the conflict was "touching," but some political commentators, whilst acknowledging the U.S.' move as a positive one, were baffled as to why it had taken so long.
It is reported that each year Japan invites the U.S. to send a representative to attend the memorial ceremony, but the U.S. has, until this year, persistently declined the offer.
