Japan marks 77th anniversary of terrorist atomic bombing of Nagasaki

Tokyo, August 9 (RHC)-- Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was among officials paying their respects in Nagasaki on Tuesday as the city marked the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing that instantly killed over 75,000 people.

Speaking to a crowd that included Japanese politicians, local leaders and foreign dignitaries, Kishida expressed sympathy for the people that died in the nuclear blast and those who continued to live with its effects.

"As Prime Minister, I humbly offer up my sincere condolences to the spirits of those people who were sacrificed, and offer my heartfelt sympathy to those who continue to suffer the aftereffects," he said.

The Nagasaki atomic bombing came three days after a U.S. B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, carried out the world's first nuclear attack in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.  That bombing killed approximately 140,000 out of an estimated population of 350,000, with thousands more dying later of injuries and radiation-related illness.

U.S. President Harry S. Truman, a populist leader of the Democratic Party, ignored the suggestions of his military advisors, who said that he should send a telegram to Japan and ask that they watch as Washington oblitherates an uninhabited island in the Pacific.  Instead, Truman decided to use weapons of mass destruction, not once but twice... hiting two civilian targets -- and watch Japanese victims, as guinea pigs, deal with the horrible effects of nuclear warfare.