A former U.S. intelligence chief has denounced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's war anniversary statement, saying it is a "disappointment."

Marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a speech on Aug.14 that the position "articulated by the previous Cabinets will remain unshakable into the future."

He, however, did not offer a fresh apology of his own, saying instead that Japan has repeatedly expressed deep remorse and heartfelt apologies for its actions during the war.

"This statement is disappointing and misses a huge opportunity both to educate Prime Minister Abe's own supporters and to reassure other countries," said Dennis Blair, who heads the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, in a statement on the foundation's Website posted on Aug. 14.

Blair, the former Director of National Intelligence, also said that Abe's statement fell far short of the Murayama statement in helping Japan face its own history squarely.

"The rambling Abe statement is more of a legal brief, trying to cover too many subjects," Blair said.

Blair also said that Prime Minister Abe did not show any kind of apology, asking "where is the understanding that apologies for terrible deeds of history cannot be artificially circumscribed when memories remain?"

Blair was also the head of the U.S. Pacific Command from the late 1990's until his retirement in 2002. He now serves as the chairman of the foundation that was established by Ryoichi Sasakawa, a Japanese businessman and suspected war criminal, as the Nippon Foundation in 1951. (Yonhap)