CHIASMOS: The University of Chicago International and Area Studies Multimedia Outreach Source [video] - "Crime and Responsibility: War, Indiscriminate Bombing, and Mass Killing" (video)

"Crime and Responsibility: War, Indiscriminate Bombing, and Mass Killing" (video)

02/03/09 • 74 min

CHIASMOS: The University of Chicago International and Area Studies Multimedia Outreach Source [video]

A talk by Yuki Tanaka, Professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute. Dr. Tanaka examines the question of the criminality of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the responsibility of American political and military leaders who were closely involved in the decision-making and execution of the order to drop the bombs. Criminality is examined in accordance with international law effective at the time that the bombs were dropped and in the light of the Charter of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal. The lecture also examines the history and present situation of indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilian populations. It examines how the use of this tactic started, what kind of military logic was used to justify it, and why it is still being widely sanctioned despite the fact that large numbers of civilians are repeatedly victimized in various war-torn regions of the world. It further explores how we should utilize the result of the International Peoples' Tribunal of Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to increase understanding of the fact that killing civilians is a crime against humanity, regardless of the asserted military justification. The Center for East Asian Studies 2009 Najita Distinguished Lecture.

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shapiro poster A talk by Ambassador Charles S. Shapiro, Senior Coordinator for the Western Hemisphere Free Trade Agreements Task Force, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Ambassador Charles Shapiro was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State's Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs (2005-2007) and U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela (February 2002 until August 2004). In addition to his posting as Ambassador to Venezuela, he has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassies in Santiago, Chile and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Other overseas postings include El Salvador and Denmark. His Washington assignments include Director of the Office of Cuban Affairs as well as various assignments in Public Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and Western Hemisphere Affairs. Ambassador Shapiro was the recipient of a Presidential Meritorious Service Award in 2005. Event Organized by the Center for Latin American Studies, co-sponsored by the Norman Wait Harris Fund of the Center for International Studies at the University of Chicago