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Secretary of Apologies John Kerry pays 'gut-wrenching' visit to Hiroshima

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What a fucking disgrace to have this asshole representing your 
country.

TOKYO — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said his "gut-
wrenching" visit Monday to the Hiroshima site of the world's 
first atomic bombing reinforces the goal to eliminate nuclear 
weapons and war itself.

Kerry became the highest-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit the 
Hiroshima Peace Park, located at ground zero for the first of 
two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japanese cities 
near the end of World War II. An estimated 140,000 Japanese died 
in the Aug. 6, 1945, bombing.

He laid a wreath and visited the nearby Atomic Bomb Museum, 
which includes haunting displays and artifacts related to the 
bombing.

“It is a stark, harsh, compelling reminder not only of our 
obligation to end the threat of nuclear weapons, but to re-
dedicate all our effort to avoid war itself,” Kerry wrote in a 
guest book at the memorial, according to local news reports.

Top U.S. officials had avoided visiting Hiroshima for many 
decades because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Japan Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, a Hiroshima native and, 
like many Japanese leaders, a strong proponent of nuclear 
disarmament, said Monday’s trip to the memorial was not to 
revisit the past, but to honor those who perished.

"It's about the present and the future particularly, and the 
strength of the relationship that we have built ... and the 
strong reminder of the imperative we all have to work for peace 
for peoples everywhere," Kishida said in a statement.

Kerry's visit came at the end of two days of talks in Hiroshima 
with foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading nations 
about terrorism, the refugee crisis, nuclear disarmament and 
other issues. The talks are in preparation for the G-7 summit in 
late May that President Obama will attend in Ise-Shima, Japan. 
The other G-7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Great 
Britain, Italy and Japan.

The talks come amid rising tensions in Asia over North Korea’s 
nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs, as well as 
China’s aggressive territorial claims.

In a statement Monday, the G-7 foreign ministers condemned North 
Korean nuclear and missile tests this year and called on the 
country to abandon its weapons-development programs.

“These repeated provocations not only undermine regional 
stability, but also pose grave threats to international peace 
and security, and are clear violations of multiple United 
Nations Security Council resolutions,” the statement said.

A separate statement on maritime security did not mention China 
by name, but expressed concern about developments in the East 
China Sea, where China has claimed sovereignty over a group of 
uninhabited islands administered by Japan. In the South China 
Sea, a vital waterway, China has built a string of artificial 
islands.

“We express our strong opposition to any intimidating, coercive 
or provocative unilateral actions that could alter the status 
quo and increase tensions, and urge all states to refrain from 
such actions as land reclamations, including large-scale ones, 
building of outposts, as well as their use for military 
purposes,” the statement said.

China has claimed virtually all of the South China Sea — parts 
of which are claimed by five other countries — and has created 
landfill islands complete with military-grade runways, ports and 
extensive infrastructure.

Washington is concerned that China could use the new islands and 
facilities to interfere with sea and air navigation in the South 
China Sea, through which some $5 trillion in trade passes 
annually. U.S. warships have conducted two “freedom of 
navigation” operations in close proximity to two of those 
islands in recent months, and a third is likely soon.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi last week warned of “harmful” 
consequences if territorial disputes were included in the G-7 
agenda. There was no immediate response from Beijing concerning 
Monday’s communiqué.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/11/kerry-pays-
gut-wrenching-visit-hiroshima/82883866/
 

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Secretary of Apologies John Kerry pays 'gut-wrenching' visit to Hiroshima "Obama Hates America" <traitor@disney.com> - 2016-04-15 00:04 +0200

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