US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released a video on her personal social media accounts lamenting the US nuclear bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima and warning that the world was closer to “nuclear annihilation” than ever before.
“I recently visited Hiroshima in Japan and stood at the epicenter of a city that remains scarred by the unimaginable horror caused by a single nuclear bomb dropped in 1945, 80 years ago,” she said in the video. “It’s hard for me to find the words to express what I saw, the stories that I heard, the haunting sadness that still remains. This is an experience that will stay with me forever.”
Gabbard said that the bombing in Hiroshima killed “over 300,000 people, many dying instantly while others died from severe burns, injuries, radiation sickness, and cancer that set in in the following months and years.” The number is higher than most death toll estimates for the attack.
When asked if the 300,000 figure was based on US intelligence assessments or if the US had its own estimate, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence didn’t answer and instead provided Antiwar.com with a general statement on the video, which said President Trump was also concerned about the risk of nuclear war.
“Acknowledging the past is critical to inform the future. President Trump has repeatedly stated in the past that he recognizes the immeasurable suffering, and annihilation can be caused by nuclear war, which is why he has been unequivocal that we all need to do everything possible to work towards peace,” said Alexa Henning, Gabbard’s deputy chief of staff.
Gabbard noted in the video that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was much smaller than what nuclear powers have in their arsenals today. “A single nuclear weapon today could kill millions in just minutes,” she said.
“As we stand here today, closer to the brink of nuclear annihilation than ever before, political elite warmongers are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers,” Gabbard said, adding that it was up to “us, the people, to speak up and demand an end to this madness.”
She concluded the video by saying that people should work toward a world where “no one has to live in fear of a nuclear holocaust.”
In her statement on the video, Henning said that Gabbard “supports President Trump’s clearly stated objectives of bringing about lasting peace and stability and preventing war.”
While both Gabbard and Trump say that they want peace, the Trump administration continues fueling the proxy war in Ukraine, supporting Israel’s extermination of Palestinians in Gaza, and is threatening to bomb Iran if diplomacy fails.
The US is also continuing to ratchet tensions with China. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently said that the US was ready to “fight and win” a war with China if it invades Taiwan, despite the risk of nuclear war.
