Hiroshima mayor backs Obama's call for an end to nuclear weapons

[Heidi]

Source: Guardian

Thursday 6 August 2009 09.58 BST

Tadatoshi Akiba says 'we have the power and the responsibility' as Japanese city marks 64th anniversary of atomic bombing

The mayor of Hiroshima today backed Barack Obama's call for the abolition of nuclear weapons when he spoke at a ceremony to mark the 64th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city.

Tadatoshi Akiba said he was speaking for the global "Obamajority" in calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by 2020.

"We have the power. We have the responsibility. And we are the Obamajority," he said, also invoking the US president's "Yes, we can" campaign soundbite.

In a speech in Prague earlier this year, Obama said the US, as the only country to have used nuclear weapons, had a "moral responsibility" to bring about their abolition.


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/06/hiroshima-mayor-nuclear-weapons-abolition

[robcon]

1. Ending nuclear weapons is a very, very bad idea.

It would ratchet up the advantage a non-nuclear country or group would have when they violate the agreement not to produce nuclear weapons. The blackmail/terror would, IMO, lead to war - perhaps nuclear war - within a decade of the banning of nuclear weapons.

The toothpaste is out of the tube. People know how to make nuclear weapons. To assume some group could discipline other countries or groups not to want the awesome power of being the only nuclear-armed country or group in the world is a fantasy, and will lead to war.

[Indydem]

2. Having nuclear weapons is fine...

Using them is not.

So glad *'s hands are away from the button.