May 19, 2023

Biden Pays Silent Tribute to Victims of Hiroshima Bomb

Source: The New York Times

Journalist: Peter Baker

Mr. Biden’s visit came at a pivotal moment in the atomic age, with the “prospect of Armageddon,” as he has described it, greater than at any time since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has hinted ominously that he may yet unleash nuclear weapons to salvage his flailing invasion of Ukraine. And rather than moving away from the kind of destruction represented by Hiroshima, the world is seeing more such arms being built and fewer constraints being imposed on their spread.

“I worry a lot that we are moving in the wrong direction, that we are less secure, and I worry we will see nuclear weapons used in our lifetimes,” said Jon B. Wolfsthal, a former arms control adviser to President Barack Obama and now a senior adviser to Global Zero, a group that advocates abolishing nuclear weapons. “So to me, the importance of going to Hiroshima is not just about the symbolism, but also using the legacy of Hiroshima to remind people that these weapons are devastating and should never again be used.”

Read the full story and more from The New York Times.

Author

  • Jon B. Wolfsthal

    Adjunct Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Security Program

    Jon B. Wolfsthal is senior advisor to Global Zero, serves on the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and is a member of the US Department of S...