60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
On the 60th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which remind us about war and the horror war brings, Greenpeace - once again - commits itself to creating peace.
We envision a world where the kind of death and destruction caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never happen again. We envision a future where there is no fear of nuclear weapons and their destructive power. We envision a future where terrible conflict provoked by the very existence of nuclear weapons has been totally eliminated. To honour those who died as a result of nuclear weapons unleashed in Japan, we must all work together to create this world.
From every corner of the planet, across 40 countries and representing 2.8 million supporters, Greenpeace sends its solemn promise that it will continue fighting for peace. We are joined by 10,000 people from 155 countries who sent messages of peace which were attached to large dove-shaped balloons and flown in front of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial to commemorate the more than 300,000 people who died in the atomic bombings. The message is clear: to create lasting peace all nations must eliminate all their nuclear weapons - as well as the dangerous materials and technologies used to create them.
Greenpeace staff member Malcolm Carroll is in Japan for the anniversary and gives us his impression of the day.
At Hiroshima. Doves fly above the dome, carrying nearly 10,000 messages of peace. A blinding flash. This time a Reuters photographer among the media melee. It contrasts with the quiet dignity of this commemoration organized by Greenpeace in Japan. We stand at the point above which the bomb was detonated.
Their hands fused to their faces, there's a collection of watches, they all say 8.15. It is 08.15 now so we keep a minute's silence. Blue sky, 35 degrees, just as it was then, says Mr Tanaka. He was 13. He survived the bomb, one of the hibakashu.
A crowd has joined the media but Mr Tanaka has his back to them. He tells his story to us. I am humbled, deeply moved. He tells Greenpeace never to forget, to go on striving for peace, to strive against all nuclear weapons, against all nuclear tests, against the other face of the devil - civil nuclear power. Too bloody right we will. Already the messages are being removed from the doves, to be sent to the Prime Minister of Japan and to the governor of the district where a nuclear processing plant is opening. The Rokkasho plant is running tests on plutonium production even as the Japanese people remember the 60th anniversary of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Too many words already. We need action. Now the documents have been declassified, it is clear that there was no military necessity. Hiroshima August 6th 1945. Nagasaki August 9th 1945. They were instruments of foreign policy not armaments of war to push forward global economics favourable to the US and to pressure Russia. The bombs failed. Soviet Russia responded by developing weapons which led to the largest test ever, a bomb over 3000 time more powerful than Hiroshima. George W Bush and Tony Blair are embracing this same failed approach again. Like before, there is no military necessity.
We all stood beneath the bomb. We have a second chance. Now we must act. Generate awareness, political debate, action. We will begin a new wave of disarmament work in the UK. It must not fail the likes of Mr Tanaka. It's when ordinary people start to act that the great powers can be humbled.
Malcolm
More information
Read the commitment to peace by Greenpeace's global leadership for the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Read more about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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