Legally, the force of a treaty is a bilateral or multilateral agreement defining obligations voluntarily undertaken. When a party violates a treaty, it is no longer binding on other parties, who rely upon reciprocity to make it worth entering into. Thus, once the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) engaged in behavior that violated international norms, there was no obligation to follow those norms. Indeed, once they cheated, it was imperative to not allow them to win by cheating, just as we do not negotiate with terrorists who kidnap, in order to avoid encouraging future behavior of that sort. And it was imperative to bring them down as rapidly as possible to stop their atrocities.
Morally, of course it is repugnant to bomb indiscriminately, but I subscribe to the notion of lesser evilism, and would consider it worse to allow the ruthless to prevail because we cannot bear to do what is necessary to prevail.
vikingphoenix.com
The War Crimes
Japan and Japanese citizens, mostly military forces, carried out a campaign of terror during World War II that is unsurpassed in bestiality and savagery in modern times. On top of combat losses, Asian and Allied nations lost millions of non-combatant dead to all causes: bombardment of cities, slave labor, massacres, summary executions, medical experiments, germ and gas warfare, beheading, beating and rape, stabbing, gun shot, hanging, torture, boiling alive, impaling on bayonets, burning alive, starvation, medical neglect, etc. Japanese businesses and the Kwantung Army cooperated in the operation of the Opium Monopoly Bureau to finance Japan's war machine with the creation of millions of Chinese addicts. At least 200,000 women were forced to serve as sex slaves. Allied POW survived World War II at a 2% rate in Nazi camps, but POW held by the Japanese died at more than a 37% rate ( list of camps). Of all the belligerents, only the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics treated POW with the same brutal indifference as Japan. In 1945, Japanese leaders ordered the death of all remaining POW, "leaving no trace". The Japanese reign of terror began in earnest in 1931. The nightmare did not end until late 1945, only after allied forces entered territories held by the Japanese, often days, weeks and even months after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945).
vikingphoenix.com
Nanjing Massacre
Sun Tzu's Newswire: Japan's War Crimes
The Nanjing Massacre — In 1937-1938 Japan's conquering armies indulged in an orgy of killing (for sport), rape and looting in the Chinese city of Nanjing (Nanking). The event is remembered in history books as the Nanjing Massacre. By the time that the initial round of atrocities ended, 200,000-300,000 were dead, mostly women, children, civilians, and prisoners of war. Thousands of women were raped, and when their usefulness ended, they were butchered by the Japanese forces introducing the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere to this region of China. Similar massacres were recorded in other Asian cities, including Hong Kong and Singapore and throughout the Asian countrysides. Author Iris Chang wrote a definitive book on the massacre titled The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. See Iris Chang biography
amazon.com
During the time of the Great Depression in America, and up through the end of World War II, the Japanese medical corps, operating through the imperialist Kwantung Army, conducted thousands of biological warfare experiments on live human subjects. These subjects were primarily Chinese peasants convicted of petty crimes, but also included, as WW2 wore on, prisoners of war and non-criminal Chinese. For over forty years, these facts were kept an almost complete secret from the general public; glancing references would surface now and again, or a slick TV documentary would pop up for a British of Korean version of the TV magazines that are those countries' parallels to something like 20-20 in America. No one treated the subject in depth; no one knew how to get enough proof. Even the Chinese government, when it attempted a full-length film documentary, was unable to come up with enough information (their aborted attempt was made into a fictional film, the notorious Men Behind the Sun).
Then came Williams and Wallace and their book Unit 731. Seven years later, Sheldon Harris expanded greatly on Williams and Wallace's knowledge with the definitive text on Unit 731's war crimes, Factories of Death. Another seven years has gone by since, and Harris and Routledge have released a second edition of Factories of Death that contains the updated information from documents that have been declassified since. As time goes on, the book gets even more horrifying.
Unlike Williams and Wallace or Hal Gold (whose book Unit 731: Testimony is a brilliant, if anecdotal, complement to this work), Harris keeps his feet rooted firmly on the ground, keeping any conjecture to the most logical conclusions to be drawn from the facts at hand. Gold, for example, speculates in Unit 731: Testimony that both MacArthur and Truman were fully aware of the America cover-up of Unit 731's activities; Harris refrains from even hinting at such a thing until all the evidence is completely laid out, and even then, he only glancingly makes reference to then-President Truman at all. Because of this loathness to speculate, when Harris does let the cork out and start ranting (which happens only very briefly, at the end of the penultimate chapter), some of the teeth are taken out of his vituperation; he's just not willing to go where he needs to go. One might cynically think that the stronger language that haunts the last third of the penultimate chapter is there simply because ranting sells and scholarship doesn't. (That said, those reviewers who have noted the book's dryness are right, to an extent, but anyone who considers this painfully dry should try reading any other book Routledge has ever released. This is a John Grisham novel in comparison, going by readability. I was surprised, and pleased, at how quickly the book flew by, given its imprint.)
That same failing is Harris' greatest sin here; not one of commission, but of omission. Other books on Unit 731 have raised a number of questioning specters that Harris doesn't touch on at all, including a few for which there is smoking-gun evidence (use of American biological warfare in North Korea in the 1950s that has Ishii Shiro's stamp on it, the biological munitions plant at Hiroshima that led to America's bombing of that city in 1945, etc.). It could reasonably be concluded that Harris didn't think the evidence was sufficient to warrant mentioning them in the text, but even the casual Unit 731 scholar is sure to have heard the allegations; better, if you're writing the definitive piece of scholarship, to address them rather than leave them
twisting in the wind.
Still, an excellent piece of work, one that history buffs are well advised to seek out. Schoolchildren (for this material is definitely in need of dissemination) could do with an abridged version; those who seek this out because they loved Men Behind the Sun should probably stick with the film unless they're used to reading nonfiction. (The notion of Ishii as a two-dimensional villain will be shattered within the first few pages. Prepare yourselves.)
vikingphoenix.com
Japan's Prisoner of War (POW) Camps
Basic Facts
U.S. prisoners of war held by the Empire of Japan, 1941-1945 died at a rate exceeding 37% while in captivity. On the other hand, U.S. prisoners of war held captive by Nazi Germany died at a rate of less than 2% while held by the Germans. (Based on figures from Center For Internee Rights).
Japan's war prisoner guards were largely Japanese, however, Formosan (Taiwanese) and Korean guards were also integrated into the guard forces.
Escapes were rare. Unlike the situation in Europe, the mostly Caucasian Allied prisoners could not mingle among Asians without instant recognition. Furthermore, the local Asian populations were subjected to severe reprisals from the Japanese when helping Allied POW. There was at least one notable successful rescue attempt, at Cabanatuan in the Philippines late in the war [ Daws, p. 324.] Surviving U.S. prisoners-of-war almost to a man consider the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan as a successful rescue. Tokyo had issued orders to kill all prisoners-of-war by 1945 [ Daws, p. 324-325.].
All U.S. and Allied POW were subjected to slave labor, cruel and unusual punishments and medical experiments [ see Unit 731 ]. Many of the Japanese war crimes afflicted upon Allied POW were brushed aside by Japan and Allied governments following World War II during the headlong rush to stop Soviet expansion in Asia.
In 1997, former POW and civilian internees continued seeking redress from Japan for the war crimes. The U.S. State Department issued a watch list for Japanese war criminals. In the U.S., The Center For Internee Rights is leading the fight.
smhs.net
Bombing of London
Bombing of London Saturday sept 7 1940 a day that was strangely quiet with no planes in the sky . At the air Ministry there were reports that a huge amount of the French out posts were now controlled by the Germans . Their air craft was being moved closer to the French coast . There seemed to be a heavy concentration of gun emplacements being constructed . with the possibility of a invasion the chief of staff scheduled an important meeting at 5 20 pm.
BY 1600 hours (4.00pm) 348 heavy bombers with an escort of 617 German fighters, almost 100 aircraft flew across the channel towards the Thames Estuary . The British radar detected the huge formation and at first only eleven squadrons were sent to the Thames Estuary .
The Spitfire' and Hurricane leaders reported back that off the coast of Sheppy , the sky was black with bombers. They scrambled together twenty two squadrons, moved around London and sent them to Thames Haven and Tilburg.
The R.A.F pilots could only do what they could do to break up the formation but all the could see was row upon row upon row of German fighters.
The escort Fighters saw them at once and came on them like a ton of bricks .Ever one was talking and there earphones were a bunch of babbling. First the bombers had no intervention of R.A.F fighters.
The others following the leading aircraft watched as the first bombers dropped there bombs on Dockland and areas of Woolwich ,Silverton. The first day of the bombing was dreadful, but most thought that the bombing was over ,but it was only the begining.
The Second attack took place that evening at docklands, they were hit agian but know they inclueded East Ham, West Ham,Whitechapel,Bethnal Green , Bermondsey ,SouthWark and the Thame side area of Centreal London. this attack caused a serious fire on the docks . There were 430 people killed and 1600 people injured and during the second attack another 412 people were killed and 747 injured . The bombings continued untill Nov 2nd which is 57 days during 1941 untill 1942. According to Duxfords Library ,the Blits was in three phases. The first phase was from aug 1940 untill may 10 1941 . Which includes the Baedeter raids or the mini blits .
For london the casualties were 43000 killed 51000 seriously injured 88 000 slightly injured By the end of phase 1 an estimated 18000 tons of of bombs had been dropped on London . The "phoney war " was in the past and Londoners were no longer to be led to belive it would not reach them . They were informed hourly and by daily reports.
The bombing on sept 7 caught everyone by surprise including the chief of staff . The Germans were relentless in their bombing but they failed to destroy the Royal Canadian Air Force . Destined not to succeed in there constant bombing of London and there industrial centers .
It seemed the more Germany bombed the stronger the will of the people of Britan became . Germany Continued bombing for the four years of the war but the will of the people did not die ,the courage and determination of the defence forces continued to get stronger each year.
In the end Germany failed and went on to lose the second World war .
london.allinfo-about.com
After the horror of the Blitz in 1940 and 1941, London continued to suffer from air raids but not on the same scale. It wasn't until June 1944 that Londoners again suffered from daily indiscriminate bombing but this time it was the V1 (also called doodlebugs) and V2 rockets.
Throughout the 1930s German scientists had been working on flying bombs and rockets. By October 1942 they had successfully tested a rocket, 46 feet long and able to carry a one ton warhead. It could travel more than 200 miles at a speed of 3600 miles per hour. This was developed into the V2 rocket.
At the same time, the V1 flying bomb had also been developed. Although it was not as good as the V2, it was cheaper to produce.
The British Government knew about the development of these two weapons and tended to take a pessimistic view of the damage and carnage they could cause. To slow down production, raids were launched on German factories.
The British and Americans commenced Operation Overlord, the invasion of France, on 6th January 1944. Just six days later the first V1 flying bombs descended on London. Only one of the ten launched arrived in London killing six people in the East End. Within days V1s were being launched at the rate of 100 per day. Almost half were shot down by fighter pilots and guns but the remainder hit the capital.
As these rockets were launched in daytime, they caused large numbers of casualties because there were more people out and about.
Londoners became accustomed to hearing the sound of a rocket's engine and to breathing a sigh of relief when it went over or waiting for death if the engine cut out just overhead.
As the allies advanced in France, the Germans lost their launch sites so by the end of August the V1 raids had largely ceased although some were still launched from planes.
Now though, the V2 rockets were launched. Although they were not much more destructive than the V1, they could not be detected by radar, nor could they be shot down because of the high speeds at which they travelled. As the allied forces advanced in Europe, the V2 launchers were either captured or pushed back out of range. The attacks finally ended at the end of March 1945.
Although the V1s and V2s did not cause the large scale devastation seen in the Blitz, they did cause terrible carnage and destruction in the immediate area they hit. Amongst the damage and casualties were:
In June 1944 a V1 scored a direct hit on the Wellington Barracks Guards Chapel killing 119 people
Also in June the London Library was damage
5 houses were demolished and 24 people killed at Highbury Corner in the same month.
An animal health institute was destroyed in Battersea
By the beginning of July, 200,000 houses were damaged and needing repair.
At the beginning of July 1944 Sloane Court was hit killing 26 people
160 people were killed in a Woolworths store in South London in November 1945
In March 1945 134 people died in Stepney, East London
V2s killed more than 2500 people and seriously injured almost 6000 |
