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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (42802)	1/29/2002 1:30:45 PM
From: Solon	Respond to of 82486

It is a very touchy subject. In 1995 the Smithosonian was forced away from offering even the slightest balance to the picture, as veterans, legions, and many others went on a rampage. So truth gets subjugated to threats and noise--even for a museum which is suposed to epitomize the eminence of truth. Don't get me wrong; I totally understand this. There has not been yet enough time to heal the anger and the hate. However, one regrets to see it in young people, in their twenties or thirties. There is no excuse for them to argue on the same basis as their parents. There is no excuse for them to eschew facts, in favor of emotion. The allies, Japanese, the Soviets who committed atrocities, these are gone. The new generation is not our enemy. We need Japan as a bastion of good will and (if you will) Capitalism in the East. It is time to admit (or it soon will be) that war is an ugly business, and that nobody draws a line where ugly begins and where it ends. the US was simply taking advantage of an opportunity to test weapons. There is no doubt it was developed and used as a military weapon, and that there were elements of revenge and weariness in the usage. There is no doubt that Russian expansionism and their opportunistic drive into Manchuria placed upon the allies the necessity to occupy Japan quickly. But if they had only wanted "surrender" rather than the appearance of subjugation and the "relief" of revenge...none of this Soviet expansionism would have reached such a menacing stage. So there were many "reasons". If one particular man (Mr. Groves) had not been the link between two administrations, and he had not possessed the peculiat power he possessed, and if he had not carried his personal agenda to use the weapon as a military device, then it is almost certain it would never have happened other than as a "test"--an awesome, majestic, and terrifying warning to humanity. Again, we understand that war is emotional, and that when thousands upon thousands have died horrific deaths...that certain emotional needs for "justice" begin to predominate the reasoning process. It has always been thus. I suppose it always will be so. Cruelty is part of humanity. For people to blindly oppose information from the excellent histories that have been written in the last 50 years, simply to insist that "our side" must never admit to moral weaknesses, is to deny our humanity and to invite distrust from the world. A terrible tragedy has forced America to talk with all the countries of the world as "we". It is something for Americans to be extremely proud of; that they are able to acknowledge the commonality of the goals, needs, and economic strivings of all...while not in any way diminishing their moral leadership or their patriotic pride in the concepts of freedom and individual rights: those keystones which have led humanity to a new phase of human history. As an aside, I went to the library yesterday and ordered in the Bix book on Hirohito, I spoke of a couple of days ago. Loking forward to reading that as it is quite a different picture of Hirohito than the world has held. But again, do we get the inner man, or the pragmatic posture? If he truly kept a diary, as is said, and if such turns up--perhaps then we will understand how a living god thinks.<gg> I also picked up, "I Saw Tokyo Burning", by Robert Guillain. Guillain worked for Le Monde and was stationed in Tokyo and married to a Japanese. As the french had surrendered, the Tokyo french community was simply placed under house arrest, as it were. It wasn't until the final 6 months that they were incarcerated. His insight into the Japanese psyche is rewarding. His viewpoint is unique as he is able to understand the East: both from Europe, from Rusia, and from the West--and to hold the big picture that derives from the self interest of all the parties.