The international symposium Terror from the Sky - Indiscriminate Bombing from Hiroshima to Today was held August 2 in the International Conference Center Hiroshima, Naka-ku, Hiroshima to consider the inhumanity of any aerial bombing. In the city that suffered the ultimate in aerial bombardment, the Hiroshima Peace Institute of Hiroshima City University sponsored this symposium to seek a path to the banning all bombing. Presided over by Professor Yuki Tanaka of the Hiroshima Peace Institute, the discussion featured an exchange of opinion among four experts before an audience of approximately 230 people.

Professor Emeritus Ronald Schaffer of California State University at Northridge looked at German bombing and the atomic bombing during World War II and noted that, "There was an obvious strategic objective, but with a strong undercurrent of racial discrimination." Professor Tetsuo Maeda of Tokyo International University referred to the bombing of Chungking, China, saying, "The origin of indiscriminate bombing that led to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was Japanese military in the Pacific War."

There were also comments about American "unilateralism" leading to the Iraq War. Professor Marilyn Young of New York City University stated that aerial bombing in the Korea and Vietnam wars were positioned as "methods for conveying threats and other political messages from the US." She criticized the US for "..lacking the imagination to understand the victims' position."

Senior Researcher Eric Markusen of the Danish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies presented an overview of the East-West Cold War and the subsequent nuclear situation. He pointed out that, "The US is where it is now because it has never thought deeply about the meaning of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He voiced his expectation that, "We should place more emphasis on the human rights movement and peace research in Hiroshima."

(Caption)Domestic and foreign researchers discuss the history and present status of aerial bombing