Dr. Hagelin Speaks At Peace Symposium In Hiroshima

Dr. John Hagelin recently traveled to Hiroshima, Japan, to address an International Symposium on World Peace held at the University of Hiroshima and sponsored by the city government. The symposium focused on the urgent need for new approaches to creating and maintaining world peace.

Dr. Hagelin presented his Proposal for Preventing Terrorism (available online at www.permanentpeace.org) to a packed and appreciative audience. The peace symposium continued the following day at the Technical University of Tokyo, where Dr. Hagelin also spoke. Dr. Hagelin explained the scientific research supporting his Proposal and commented, “The ability to deliver massive retaliation affords little deterrence to terrorists. We need a new approach—one that can neutralize terrorist attacks and prevent wars before they begin.”

Following the symposium, Dr. Hagelin met individually with 13 top Members of the Japanese Parliament and was very gratified by their deep understanding of the principles of his Proposal and their receptivity to it.

“The Japanese people understand that there’s a field of silence and unity underlying the field of change,” he said. “Peace is even built into the Japanese Constitution, which disallows Japan from creating an offensive military force. So the people were excited to learn that their self-defense forces could be trained in a science of peace that would not only protect Japan but also create global peace.”

	Memorial Monument, Hiroshima, Japan

After the symposium, Dr. Hagelin visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, established at Ground Zero of the world’s first nuclear attack. He called the experience “overwhelming” and commented, “Every political leader with access to nuclear weapons should be required to visit this museum. Even as a nuclear physicist, I was overwhelmed to see the extent of death and destruction that these weapons have caused.

“No politician in the world has any real conception of the fundamentally immoral nature of nuclear weapons, or they would all be pursuing total nuclear disarmament,” Dr. Hagelin said. “Even Bush’s ‘battlefield’ nuclear weapons are many times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Hiroshima. The very concept of such weapons breaks down the fine line that has kept humankind from total conflagration during the past 40 years.

“In this light, the new approach to peace offered by our Proposal to Prevent Terrorism is completely indispensable now—the most important project imaginable. Anything we can do now to achieve the goal, we must do.”