U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) attends a news briefing, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Kiev, Ukraine, March 18, 2024.
13:14 JST, May 13, 2024
Washington, May 12 (Jiji Press) – A US Republican senator made further comments on Sunday justifying the 1945 US atomic bombings on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“Why is it okay for America to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? … I thought it was OK,” Senator Lindsey Graham said on an NBC News program. “That was the right decision.”
“So Israel, do what you have to do to survive as a Jewish state,” he said, criticizing US President Joe Biden, who has halted some ammunition shipments to Israel.
When a moderator told Graham that U.S. military officials say technology has advanced since World War II to minimize civilian casualties, he said, “Yes, these military officials you’re talking about are full of nonsense.”
During a subcommittee meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, Graham referred to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as he urged Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and others to supply munitions to Israel.
In response, the Japanese government told the U.S. government and Graham’s office that the use of nuclear weapons does not comply with the spirit of international law.
In an interview with US news network CNN on Wednesday, Biden announced a pause in some munitions shipments to Israel, saying US bombs have been used to kill civilians in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip.
