Biden won't apologize for US nuclear massacres in Hiroshima, Nagasaki during Japan visit

US President Joe Biden does not intend to offer an apology during his upcoming visit to Japan for the American atomic bombings of Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 that massacred over 200,000 people, his national security adviser has declared.

When asked on Wednesday whether Biden had any plans to apologize for the US nuking of the two ill-fated Japanese cities, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan responded with a clear "No!"

"The President won't be making a statement at the Peace Memorial Park. He'll be participating with the other G7 leaders in a wreath-laying and a few other events. But this is not, from his perspective, a bilateral moment. This is him, as one of the G7 leaders, coming to pay respects," Sullivan further told reporters traveling on Air Force One to the summit.

Separately on Wednesday and at a press conference at the White House, a reporter also asked National Security Council spokesman John Kirby whether Biden intends to apologize for the atomic attacks or make any remarks about what transpired. Kirby offered a response identical in nature to that of Sullivan's, insisting that the focus of Biden's trip is not on the past, but "about the future."

"The president plans to visit the memorial and to pay his respects to the lives of the innocents who were killed in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima," Kirby added.

Hiroshima was obliterated by a plutonium implosion-type nuclear bomb - known as "Little Boy" - on August 6, 1945 that killed 140,000 people. Three days later, the explosion of an enriched uranium gun-type fission bomb - know as "Fat Man" - killed some 74,000 people in Nagasaki, on the last days of World War II.

There has never been an official apology from Washington for its nuclear bombing of the two Japanese cities. The US has rather been careful not to apologize while only expressing sorrow over the colossal destruction it caused.  

The official's remarks came as Biden is scheduled to visit the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima -- the hometown of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida -- on Friday and meet with survivors of the nuclear blast while on a tour of the country to take part in the Group of 7 summit.

The memorial, which includes memorials for the dead, the iconic bombed-out Peace Dome, and a museum on the bomb and its aftermath, is the remains of the only building in Hiroshima to survive the nuclear explosion. 

Barack Obama was the first American president to visit the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima in 2016. He did not apologize for the only combat use of nuclear weapons in history, nor did he undercut US president Harry Truman's decision to carry out the monumental massacres.

US nuclear bombing of Hiroshima anniversary

A commemoration of the moment 77 years ago when the world entered the atomic age and the US nuclear bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki was marked. This was the first time in humanity that weapons of mass destruction in the form of nuclear bombs were used killing hundreds of thousands.

The US continues to boastfully justify the bombings and the ensuing carnage, contending that they were necessary to end the war and "save lives," although many historians question that view and insist they were unjustified.

The G7 is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union (EU) is a “non-enumerated member.”

The group has its origins in the Group of Six or G6 formed in 1975. It then changed to the G7 in 1976 with the addition of Canada, and to the G8 with Russia joining in 1998. In 2014, however, Russia was excluded from the group over the Ukrainian crisis. The EU has participated in the summit since the 1980s.

The G7 is now criticized for its representational deficit, not including the world’s largest emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China. 

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