Obama's every gesture will be scrutinized in Hiroshima visit

Obama and his team of advisors are pros. I'm sure every 'gesture' will be carefully rehearsed and performed with correct diplomacy. However, I'm also sure they will be plenty of 'haters' on hand to scrutinise and criticise his every move. Good luck Obama.

President Obama has restored some much-needed dignity and integrity to the office he holds. It's a great shame he will be leaving the world stage soon.

His staff are experts and I'm quite sure the ceremony will be conducted with sincerity and honesty.

We are not demanding any apogetic word from Obama 70 years after the war. If Japan had come up with an atomic bomb earlier than America, who can say we did not use it. Postwar prosperity of Japan in peace was brought only by total removal of the arrogant imperial army which ruined the country.

Barack Obama has been the best president of my lifetime, and I was born during the Truman administration. I can't think of anyone else who is close.

Note that he helped guide us through economic recovery while reducing the deficit by two-thirds.

The nuclear bombing of Japan is not something to be proud of NOR is it something to apologize for. We were at war, a war if you remember that was started BY Japan on Dec 7th 1941.

I'm also sure they will be plenty of 'haters' on hand to scrutinise and criticise his every move.

Obama could bring world peace and prosperity, eliminating homelessness, disease and hunger, and Republicans would still complain about 'the worst president ever'.

Having spent more than half a day at the Peace Park, Museum and Memorial, I can only say Obama had better 'get it'. He needn't apologize for what happened to end a war 70 years ago, he needs to acknowledge that it shouldn't happen again. That's all. And in the meantime put Putin in his place as a second-rate dictator who won't/can't defuse his own nukes.

Not an important news. Certain historical facts need to be accepted by both the parties here and look to the future. History cannot be changed.

Only the localites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem to expect an apology. There is a strong disconnect between these people and the rest of the Japan. Had Japan as a nation taken this stand against Obama's visit things would have been different. Since thats not the case here apologizing or not apologizing wouldn't make much of a difference.

Obama's visit is a courageous decision. Abe's response was sign of helplessness as nations PM. Just my perception.

Obama is a good, sensitive and smart man. No doubt in my mind he will handle the situation with dignity and aplomb. American folks, you had to endure 8 years of George w Bush faux pas on the world stage so just enjoy having a guy like Obama at your helm for a few more months, seriously! The guy is pure class and so are his wife and kids.

Cause in a few months time its back to bloopers and cultural gaffes ;)

Are you saying that a victim of aggression is excused from committing atrocities? Then again 'Crazy' is in your name.

Not really "excused", but more justifiable.

Which of the two atomic bombings "helped" end the war?

Both. The emperor should've surrendered after he got licked in Okinawa, sparing Hiro & Naga.

Obama may also look to use the trip to address a piece of unfinished business.

Right, anyone who believes him about elimination of nukes needs their heads examined. The Defense budget on nukes is what 1 TRILLION dollars? To upgrade and stabilize the aging weapons it already has? Hmmm.....

Even if he does not say the word ‘sorry,’ the sincerity with which Obama listens to the stories of the victims will be a touchstone of the meaning of his visit,”

Japanese need to learn too that saying sorry does not always mean one is taking responsibility for something.

Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. This is a difficult situation for him both domestically and internationally, but I think history will look kindly on him in the future as someone who broke new ground.

China, a major U.S. and Japanese rival, may look at the pictures of Obama and Abe standing side-by-side at Hiroshima and see an aggressive challenge to its push for regional authority.

The Chinese shouldn't worry to much. . . don't they got a few nukes? Yeah FR, UK, RUS, IND, PAK, NK all got that ace of spades.

Ever since the accolades that followed his anti-nuclear speech in April 2009, Obama has been criticized for doing little to back up his soaring rhetoric.

Just his typical mumbo jumb jive talk. Any state and it's leadership would be fools to eliminate their nukes. Let's be realistic.

Many hisorians and Americanrank Truman in the top 10 of all time, in small small way, ironically, because of what he did that Obama is not being called to apologize for...

Differing views, in different countries, exist among historians, politicians and the public about the atomic bombs, specifically, and the war in general. That makes shaping a message very tricky.

Differing views do not mean they cannot find a common ground. All sides will welcome his commitment for nuclear disarmament. No need to apologize.

Millions of Americans, including me feel different and November can't come soon enough.

Don't hold your breath for too long waiting for his departure come November. He isn't out of office until January 2017.

His staff are experts and I'm quite sure the ceremony will be conducted with sincerity and honesty.

His experts also (under the Sec State Clinton) tried to give a "reset" button to the Russians in order to reset diplomatic relations after W and wound up using the wrong wording or phrasing and the Russian Foreign Minister pointed that out to them. Not too sure about the rest of his advisors, they seem to be giving him some bad advice at times when he really needs to come through.

And nonproliferation experts will want proof that Obama is working to “earn” the Nobel Peace Prize he received for advocating a world without nuclear weapons.

It's about time that Obama finally "earned" his gift of a Nobel Peace Prize. It was disappointing that a Norwegian Committee consisting of only five members who had been appointed by the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) chose to ignore other, much more worthy and accomplished candidates, in order to gift the prize to someone (Obama) who had done nothing to achieve world peace.

Good on him for going. It is a brave decision, and likely to prove the notion that "you can't please everyone".

I went to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki about twenty years ago and was moved by it, but I now think they should be mainly seen as symbolic of the mass suffering that happened during the war and not so much as special or exceptional cases. The war cost the lives of tens of millions of combatants and non-combatants, many on the non-aggressor side. Millions more were left injured, blinded, maimed, orphaned, with severe PTSD, etc. The whole war was an exercise on ongoing misery and destruction, regardless of whatever glory is depicted in movies. One new aspect of WWII compared to WWI was the vastly increased civilian death toll, and that is possibly the most important aspect of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. By WWII, dehumanization of the enemy had reached a state where destroying whole cities of citizens was viewed as acceptable. As a species, we have gone from fighting wars between combatants on battlefields to the present where anyone vaguely on their side is fair game. With cluster bombs and remote drone strikes directed at "suspected" targets, this aspect of war seems to be getting worse. Terrorists hitting soft targets is similarly deplorable.

Barack Obama has been the best president of my lifetime,

Quite precocious for a seven year old.

Moderator: Please do not post rubbish like this. It reflects badly on yourself.

Barack Obama has been the best president of my lifetime,

I guess when you only have known one president this is a pretty easy thing to say, nothing to compare to.

Moderator: Once again your comments add nothing to the discussion.

Let this be a lesson to everybody who just wants to do the right thing.

Hate mongers and busybodies will dog you every step of the way. You will be accused of scandal and treason and all manner of immoral leanings by people who would otherwise have no interest whatsoever. Ignorant people will make all manner of claims and make stuff up just to make you look bad.

Let's not kid ourselves, Trump is not a disease. He is a symptom of something dark that has taken hold of American media and about half of its citizens. Something is seriously out of whack when a gesture by the US President like this can be so misconscrutinized by so many people who are willing to ignore a simple message than any child could understand.

The man was in Hawaii long enough that he has been to Pearl Harbor several times. He saw how war begins and ends. We all should.

Ummm... No, not at all. Obama was hailed as a man who could bring about change (for the better... Not change like Trump wants).

Oh, yes it was. The euphoric hallucinogenic love fest that liberals had with Obama and the phenomenon is exactly how Trump supporters are and see him. Like with Obama, Trump promises change and as Obama changed America, Trump will no doubt do the same.

Now, you can say he failed for the most part in that, but you need to remember that is the fault of Republican filibustering and redefining "the party of 'no'". Didn't matter what it was, they just said no.

Of course, why would they agree to go with anything radical that Obama wanted and they were more adamant in their objection primarily to Obama's unwillingness to move down the center unlike Bill Clinton. So I don't blame the GOP for saying NO to a president that refuses to compromise or meet his conservative colleagues down the middle.

How many filibusters for them since taking Congress and the Senate vs. when the Dems were in power with a Republican president? Same with passing judges. "No," You guys can't even say yes within your own party, so partisan you are.

When Bush was in power, the Dems weren't that radical. Boy, have times changed.

In any case, the man is here to do good.

Let's hope so, so far so good, he's in Hiroshima at the Dome, let's wait and see.

We don't need as many bombs as the world has. Hell, we don't need any.

I don't agree with that, however, if Russia, China, France and other nuclear powers decide to give up and destroy all of their weapons unconditionally, THEN I wouldn't mind if we did away with ours as well, but that's living in a dream land.

You'd be against your own mother if Obama agreed with her on something, and that's all there is to it.

If I knew it was something that could harm the country and people, I sure would.

Damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.

The only people who will damn him are conservatives who hate him already. So what's the difficulty?

As long as he doesn't do a "George Bush yawn" all will be fine.

fizzbit: "Obama's visit is going to be about nuclear war because he certainly can't talk about war in general being the war monger that he is"

War monger? Why, because he inherited two wars started illegally by your hero? Because he's pushing for less nuclear weapons makes him somehow more war-like? Your comments make ZERO sense... but then, as has been said, you'll hate the man and accuse him of the opposite no matter what he does.

The nuclear bombing of Japan is not something to be proud of NOR is it something to apologize for. We were at war, a war if you remember that was started BY Japan on Dec 7th 1941.

Are you saying that a victim of aggression is excused from committing atrocities? Then again 'Crazy' is in your name.

Obama's every gesture will be scrutinized in Hiroshima visit

I thought he was officially here to pay his respects. Just as I thought, if the Japanese can't get a verbal apology one from him they'll try to get one from his gestures instead. This was never going to be just a visit to Hiroshima.

Let's not kid ourselves, Trump is not a disease. He is a symptom of something dark that has taken hold of American media and about half of its citizens. Something is seriously out of whack when a gesture by the US President like this can be so misconscrutinized by so many people who are willing to ignore a simple message than any child could understand.

The same thing was said about Obama 8 years ago.

Bass4funk: "The same thing was said about Obama 8 years ago."

Ummm... No, not at all. Obama was hailed as a man who could bring about change (for the better... Not change like Trump wants). Now, you can say he failed for the most part in that, but you need to remember that is the fault of Republican filibustering and redefining "the party of 'no'". Didn't matter what it was, they just said no. How many filibusters for them since taking Congress and the Senate vs. when the Dems were in power with a Republican president? Same with passing judges. "No," You guys can't even say yes within your own party, so partisan you are.

In any case, the man is here to do good. We don't need as many bombs as the world has. Hell, we don't need any. You'd be against your own mother if Obama agreed with her on something, and that's all there is to it.

Well, that's the first time I've been kicked out of the peace park.

Having spent more than half a day at the Peace Park, Museum and Memorial, I can only say Obama had better 'get it'. He needn't apologize for what happened to end a war 70 years ago, he needs to acknowledge that it shouldn't happen again. That's all. And in the meantime put Putin in his place as a second-rate dictator who won't/can't defuse his own nukes.

Well apparently you didn't "get it". Obama's visit is going to be about nuclear war because he certainly can't talk about war in general being the war monger that he is. I'm not sure some of the posters here would even be able to recognize a true person of peace. Then you go and bring up Putin! You're logic is amazing. Please people, stop and think about the horrible cluster bombs used these days than some fantasy about nuclear war.

War monger?

I wouldn't call Obama a war monger, but I would definitely call him an appeaser and incompetent when it comes to dereliction of duty in the Handling of ISIS and the constant warnings from his Pentagon senior advisors.

Why, because he inherited two wars started illegally by your hero?

And what about the lie Biden told Larry King that his new admin. Would be greeted with open arms an it would be a great success for the Obama admin., well what bunch of crock that out to be and an even greater mess than when Bush went in because now we have to deal with Iran and we won't even get into the lies and deceptions of that bogus Iran deal that is turning out to be another blundering disaster.

Because he's pushing for less nuclear weapons makes him somehow more war-like?

If only he would have that same fortitude and drive in the US to accomplish things as he does for the rest of the world we'd be far better off.

Your comments make ZERO sense... but then, as has been said, you'll hate the man and accuse him of the opposite no matter what he does.

If his policies weren't as toxic for the country and if he wasn't an ideologue partisan, he'd be a whole lot more likable.

So let's just wait and see what he does and how he handles this trip.

Obama's visit is a courageous decision. Abe's response was sign of helplessness as nations PM. Just my perception.

Nobody is relying on Japan, let alone Abe, to serve as this world's moral compass in international relations.

BTW how can this visit be a courageous decision when it appears more or less consistent with everything Obama has done in the last 7 years?

If Japan had come up with an atomic bomb earlier than America, who can say we did not use it.

Whoa what a brilliant justification, I wonder why this argument isn't upheld at all in courts of law.

Barack Obama has been the best president of my lifetime,

That is just a disputable difference of opinion.

and I was born during the Truman administration. I can't think of anyone else who is close.

And for me Reagan, but that's also a disputable opinion for some, I get it, but there is No way that anyone can say when this president leaves office that we are better off, in fact, from the evidence we have, this guy will leave us with an astronomical debt, more people on food stamps than any other president, is a racial divider, a partisan to the max, will have printed more money than we are taking in, we aren't even at a healthy 3.0 % GDP, our foreign policy is a joke, the Mid East is a complete mess and for anyone to think this guy is great, even decent as a president is really adrift.

Note that he helped guide us through economic recovery while reducing the deficit by two-thirds.

And who will bail us out from his created $19 trillion deficit?

The nuclear bombing of Japan is not something to be proud of NOR is it something to apologize for. We were at war, a war if you remember that was started BY Japan on Dec 7th 1941.

I agree, but given Obama's apologetic tour, is guy just can't help himself to constantly apologize for anything and everything and he should be scrutinized on this, because this is his last (thankfully) Asian trip and a lot is riding on this and for him to apologize would be spitting in the eyes of many surviving Americans that did what they had to do.

Not really "excused", but more justifiable.

It's only justifiable when the US does it right?

the Mid East is a complete mess

A complete mess not only in the Middle East but in the world is what US wants, which is called Globalization or One World.

The total number of atomic bomb deads was in the order of hundreds of thousands, not tens of thousands. The U.S. detonated two bombs, one in Hiroshima and the other in Nagasaki. Which of the two atomic bombings "helped" end the war?

We were at war, a war if you remember that was started BY Japan on Dec 7th 1941.

The Americans try to consider history as political not as academic. That's why US can keep doing the wars blaming only other countries.

President Obama has restored some much-needed dignity and integrity to the office he holds.

I think April 1st is already behind us. Obama being the apologetic president has shown on the world stage that not only is he NOT a strong leader, but a weak one and has made a laughing joke of the presidency especially for our enemies. It's like going into a candy store

It's a great shame he will be leaving the world stage soon.

Millions of Americans, including me feel different and November can't come soon enough.

His staff are experts and I'm quite sure the ceremony will be conducted with sincerity and honesty.

Let's hope so, because given his history....