An emotional memorial service has been held in the Japanese city of Nagasaki where US forces dropped an atomic bomb during World War Two, 70 years ago. Speeches at the ceremony criticised the attending Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for his plans to loosen the restrictions on what Japan’s military can do.At least 70,000 people died in the attack, which came three days after another bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Nagasaki was only chosen after a cloud obscured the original target, Kokura. A solemn ceremony in front of guests from 75 countries, including US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, began on Sunday with a declaration read out by children. Nagasaki often gets forgotten as the world focuses on Hiroshima. But the bomb dropped here was made from plutonium and was even more powerful. The bomb was not originally intended for Nagasaki but was deployed there due to poor visibility in the skies above the initial target, which shows just how arbitrary the attacks truly were. They were merely meant to compel the Japanese to surrender. There was no consideration for the massive destruction and deaths that these attacks would cause. Not having anticipated the extent of the damage that an atomic bomb would cause, President Truman justified his decision by arguing that more lives would have been lost if the US invaded Japan terrestrially. However, critics argue that the nuclear attacks were unnecessary because Japan was on the brink of surrender anyway, due to the relentless bombardment of the major Japanese cities with conventional explosives. The US either overlooked the impending end to the war or perpetrated the attacks to show the world, particularly the Soviet Union, that since it was now nuclear-armed, it was a force to be reckoned with.
Despite the continuing devastation of the two atomic attacks 70 years later, the international community is still nowhere near a consensus to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The Nagasaki atomic blast was the last time that nuclear weapons were used in combat. Yet, rival countries and world powers continue to develop nuclear weapons as tactical leverage against each other. After the unprecedented devastation caused by the atomic attacks, the international community largely agreed that nothing like them should ever be allowed to happen again, as it did after the holocaust. Unfortunately however, genocides and wars continue and violence continues to increase globally. Along with the virtues of compassion and empathy, humanity will always have the potential to be blinded by greed and power and to carry out the most barbaric acts. Therefore, the mere possession of nuclear weapons by certain states poses a significant threat to international security. The nuclear weapons of the present are far more dangerous than those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and could cause unimaginable destruction if deployed. The only reasonable approach is for the world to say no to nuclear weapons collectively.
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