Why the President Did Not Give an Apology to Japan on His Visit to Hiroshima

President Barack Obama is the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima. During the visit he placed a reef in memory of the victims of the US nuclear attack during World War II. There he did not give an apology, but made a case for the reduction of nuclear arms. The question remains why was there no simple apology for the actions of the Truman administration. This can be elucidated by examining the past. The President did not give an apology, because he supports the idea that US actions are always right. This hubris that the United States holds influences its foreign policy and it views toward other nations. It is the superpower and other nations must submit to its will, because it has a "moral compass," This is a fabrication used to justify criminal acts and violence. President Obama's plea to live in a world free of nuclear weapons seems facetious , considering it has a large stockpile. The US has more capability to cause harm to millions and yet it arrogantly calls itself the leader of the Free World. What this trip really demonstrated was a cleverly crafted public relations campaign. A simple message that television viewers receive is "forgive and forget." This violent moment in history cannot be forgotten. The lack of apology reveals how the United States feels about certain peoples and nations. Asia has now gradually becoming an American sphere of influence and Asian leaders are allowing it to happen. Vietnam and Japan are forming an anti-China alliance rather than trying to solve regional disputes by themselves. However, there are Japanese who are not willing to follow this vision. Okinawans are protesting US military facilities and the criminal acts by US soldiers in the area. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has to act for the sake of his nations pride and national sovereignty. Failure to do so makes Japan look like a puppet or in the process of being colonized by the United States. President Obama's failure to produce an apology shows how much the United States believes it is above international law.
        The United States has been the only country in the world to use nuclear weapons. The common belief was that it was necessary to defeat the Japanese Empire. The facts tell a different story. Japan toward the end of the war was faced with defeat. It had lost territory due to the island hoping strategy. Nazi Germany had been defeated and Japan was the only Axis nation still fighting. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan, which was something they were trying to avoid. Emperor Hirohito attempted to make peace by writing a letter to President Harry s. Truman. The terms of the surrender were not unconditional, which might explain why it failed. Another reason was that the Allies put themselves in an unnecessary obligation by demanding unconditional surrender of Axis powers in the Atlantic Charter. President Truman made a decision that would change history forever and authorized the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Normally, American historians say that it had to be done, because an invasion would cause massive casualties. This seems to be a distortion. Japan was weakened and Soviet forces could have easily assisted American and British troops in an invasion of the home islands. The United States wanted to drop the new atomic weapons not to defeat Japan as a primary objective, but to indirectly threaten the Soviet Union. The nuclear attacks demonstrated that America was a superpower not to be messed with. Having such power gave the US ability to impose its will upon various nations and expand economic influence.

No American or Allied nations were prosecuted in civilian deaths from the nuclear attacks. Japan was occupied by the US and it became vital to its regional foreign policy. A myth emerged from World War II that the US was the righteous protector of freedom and democracy. As the decades progressed this myth was repeated constantly in film, radio, media outlets, and television. Today it presents itself in the concept that "America can do no wrong." The nuclear attacks that were committed had been done, because the Japanese Empire left the US no choice. There were numerous options which included a negotiated peace, invasion, or blockade. However, the United States was more interested in promoting its self as a supreme global power. President Obama holds this view and instead of acknowledging a past wrong "expressed regret." Regret is not the realization that a horrible act was committed. 

His act was more so disingenuous. The call for a world without nuclear weapons falls on deaf ears, because of the level of contradiction. America has so far been the only nation to use nuclear weapons in warfare, but demands other nations to relinquish their arsenals. Many times nations have disarmed and found themselves victim of US or European invasion. One of the reasons Iran and North Korea continue to seek nuclear weapons is to ensure they are not attacked. Libya gave up its weapons of mass destruction and was later attacked by the NATO alliance. This contradiction demonstrates how the US feels about other countries and peoples. 

       The United States through out its history did not have positive relations with East Asian nations. Anti-Japanese racism was present in the US before World War II. The Immigration Act of 1924 imposed a quota system, effectively giving preference to Northern Europeans. The Japanese in the 19th century were threatened by US gunboat diplomacy. The US forced Japan in 1853 to open up trade when Commodore Matthew C. Perry sailed into Tokyo in naval battleships. That was a major shock and Japan set out on a project of rapid industrialization and modernization. The Meiji restoration saw Japan grow from a place of potential colonization to a regional empire. Yet it was not accepted into the community of world empires, because it was a non-white nation. Many lamented the fact that Russia lost a war to the Japanese in 1905. President Theodore Roosevelt negotiated peace terms between the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire not for altruistic reasons, but to prevent Japan from becoming more powerful. The Russo-Japanese War put many European states in a condition of  fear. Kaiser Wilhelm II coined the term yellow peril to describe the dangers of growing Asian power. This racist and xenophobic concept was born out of the fear that one day all colonized peoples might look to Japan as a model and revolt against their oppression. The Japanese Empire fought with the Allies in World War I. After the war they proposed a racial equality clause at the Paris Peace Conference. This was rejected by the Western powers on the basis that it demanded the freedom and respect for all colonized peoples. Japan unfortunately adopted a more aggressive policy in the  Asia Pacific region. The militarists took over government and the vision of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere was materializing. The Konoe government  attempted to reach a solution with America and keep it out of the war in Asia. This changed with the rise of Hideki Tojo who chose confrontation instead. After Pearl Harbor, an intense wave of anti-Japanese racism swept across America. 

Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps and their property seized. They were targeted because of their race and their love of the US meant little. Japanese Americans even served in the fight against fascism, even when their country treated them as enemies. When the war ended, America continued to act as imperial power in Asia. Korea was the first test for the policy of containment and ended in a stalemate. The United States then became involved in Indochina. Vietnam was brutal causing the death of millions of Laotians, Cambodians, and Vietnamese. Japan continued to recover, but not through military force. Economic advancement and business brought it back from the devastation of war. Electronics, automobiles, and agriculture became major business sectors. Japan even had success in American markets. This created another wave of anti-Japanese sentiment that is often forgotten. The decline of US heavy industry in the 1970s and 1980s caused many to look for a convenient scapegoat. The automobile industry at the time was suffering in the US while Japanese companies were entering the US market. Instead of blaming the failures of the capitalist system, poor political leadership, and weak US tariffs, the US public turned their hostility toward the Japanese. This culminated in the murder of Vincent Chin by an unemployed former automobile worker and his son. Chin who was actually Chinese American was mistaken for Japanese . What the murder showed was that the US still had an issue with Anti-Asian racism in general. The American mindset is that certain peoples do not deserve justice or the same rights. The President not apologizing indirectly supports this conviction. The belief that just because a nation is more powerful it does not need to adhere to the respect of others or a code of conduct represents arrogance. 

         Japan and the US are in an odd relationship. Japan has less than impeccable relations with South Korea, but the US needs it to balance North Korea. The President claims he wants a world without nuclear weapons, but his Asia Pivot will only encourage countries to gain nuclear capability. The fear from invasion or regime change has caused governments across the world to either distrust or fear the United States. Nuclear weapons could be a guarantee of  security for many countries who are threatened by the United States. The aggressive nature of the US has to be humanized in the rhetoric of freedom and democracy promotion. If this myth is constantly promoted the public will believe it as fact and accept war crimes or various atrocities. President Obama uses this same tactic when he visited Hiroshima. Japanese citizens will a strong knowledge of history can understand why an apology did not come. Victors justice is something the United States or any winning nation in a conflict will always promote. This has been promoted for the past seventy years in discussions about World War II. Any rational scholar will admit that there were atrocities by both belligerents. However in the context of  American exceptionalism these facts are either ignored are downplayed. Not acknowledging or understanding this history puts a strain on US-Japan bilateral relations. The US and Japan went from enemies during World War II to allies during the Cold War. 

This relationship may see another shift. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he wanted a revision to Japan's pacifist constitution. His argument is that Japan has to have a role in fighting terrorism, especially after the murder of Kenji Goto by ISIS. His other argument is that China must be countered. Japanese remilitarization  has nothing to do with security. It has everything to do with Japan trying to assert itself as a world and regional power. The feeling that Japan should be a regional leader of Asia has never disappeared. The United States does not want to see a powerful Asian nation emerge or any potential challenger to its hegemony. For now, an expanding Japanese military is acceptable as long as it is directed at China. A divide Asia is a weaker Asia. At some point US and Japanese relations will become more complicated. The lack of apology for past wrongs foreshadows possible disagreements. 

       The timing of this visit was done this way for a particular reason. It was done to consolidate a growing anti-China alliance. Yellow peril paranoia has not gone away and at this point is directed  at China's growing economic and political power. This visit to Hiroshima was more so a public relations event to improve the image of the administration. The failing policies in Libya, Syria, and Iraq have been taking their toll in the last few months. The West Asian and North African  policy of the Obama administration seems to be in turmoil, but East Asia provides an area of new opportunity. American racism and xenophobia will hinder progress in the region. Only now did the US end using the term "oriental" in its official government documents.Japan is in America's perspective not worthy of an apology and it echoes the racist sentiments of the past. While it can be said that an American President going there is a large step, it hides the harsh realities. There are still Americans who believe that the nuclear strikes at Hiroshima and Nagasaki were right and completely justified. This is coming from a nation that does not want to confront its own history of hatred and violence. Slavery and the genocide of the Native Americans are evidence of the country's general disregard for human rights or liberty. The United States must learn that other nations are part of the world community and deserve respect. An apology for past wrongs shows that the US is ready to change and form a better future. Failure to learn from mistakes of the past will have negative consequences on foreign relations . The hubris that has imprisoned the American mind must be discarded.