As Trump takes control of nukes, Hiroshima’s ex-mayor urges him to meet atomic-bomb survivors via The Washington Post

Another voice has joined the chorus of those pleading with newly inaugurated President Trump to exercise restraint when it comes to use of nuclear weapons by the United States — this time from a Japanese city that has seen firsthand the devastating effects of an atomic bomb.

Tadatoshi Akiba, the former mayor of Hiroshima, wrote a letter to Trump just before his inauguration, urging him to make “wise and peaceable” decisions regarding nuclear weapons.

If anything, some of Akiba’s former constituents would know.
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Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump faced a recurring charge: that he could not be trusted with the nation’s nuclear weapons.

In August, a group of 50 former national security officials who served Republican and Democratic presidents signed an open letter saying Trump lacked the character, values and experience to be president.

“All of these are dangerous qualities in an individual who aspires to be President and Commander-in-Chief, with command of the U.S. nuclear arsenal,” the group wrote.

The worst-possible scenario was at times unspoken but clear — that Trump’s lack of self-control could spark nuclear war.

“A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons,” his Democratic campaign rival, Hillary Clinton, charged.

[…]

Officials in Japan have been paying attention. Two days after Trump was elected, the current mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki invited him to visit, the Japan Times reported.

In a statement, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue said he wanted Trump to “see with his own eyes, listen with his own ears and feel with his heart what happened under the mushroom cloud,” according to the newspaper.

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