Obama to Pay a Symbolic Visit to Hiroshima

Seventy years ago, the United States struck the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There's still dispute over whether that was necessary to end World War II. But the force of those blasts, the property damage and loss of life, were so devastating that no such weapon has ever been used again. Jimmy Carter is the only former President to visit Hiroshima. Later this month, after a summit conference of seven industrialized nations, President Obama will the first to go there while still in the White House. Scott Harold is Associate Director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at the Rand Corporation.

Secretary of State John Kerry stands at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial

as he and his G7 counterparts visit the site on April 10, 2016.

Official State Department Photo