Subj : Japanese Common Sens  2/
To   : Bob Klahn
From : Lee Lofaso
Date : Fri Jul 19 2013 13:35:18

>>> Continued from previous message

>BB>Well, now ya gotta conflict as the Japanese feel that's
>BB>their role - the chosen ones. :)  So bottom line is no Jews
>BB>were rounded up.

>LL>Only because the Jews had no "comfort girls" to offer.

>BB>End result is yes, Jewish lives were saved, but there was an
>BB>underlying reason and it's not just humanitarian as much as a
>BB>thumb in the Nazi eye. :)

>LL>It is more than that.

>LL>The Japanese consider themselves as being the "white race of
>LL>the Orient."  Culturally, intellectually, and in every
>LL>other way superior to all Asian peoples.  In the Japanese
>LL>mind, there were three classes of people.  The highest
>LL>class was Japanese.  Below the Japanese were all other
>LL>Asian peoples.  The lowest class were whites.

BK>Which takes us back to what I said in the previous msg.

To the Japanese it was a race war.  To us it was about freedom
rather than race.  The Japanese were governed by a military
dictatorship, but it was their Emperor who they listened to,
and adored.

Had the Emperor chosen not to cry uncle to the Americans, the Japanese
people would have gone to their deaths rather than capitulate to their
conquerors.  Suicide was an honorable way to die, and the preferred
manner of death, for Japanese of that time.  As such, what would we have
won? Certainly not the hearts and minds of the Japanese, for there would
have been none to win the hearts and minds of.

>LL>During WWII, the only people in Asia/Oceania who actively
>LL>opposed the Japanese were Filipinos. And some of them were

BK>The Chinese fought all through the war.

The Chinese fought, but not very well.  The Chinese military preferred
to allow the people of China to starve rather than fight a real fight
against the advancing Japanese army.  The Allies, including the USA,
preferred to do nothing, as it was China's war, not ours, to fight.
So ask yourself how many Chinese died of starvation and malnutrition
before how brave and mighty the Chinese military was against the
Japanese.

>LL>place.  It should also be remembered that not all Japanese
>LL>soldiers were monsters, many of them finding such actions
>LL>so atrocious to the point of going AWOL.

BK>But a whole lotta them were.

I met an elderly Japanese man who had served in WWII.  While
in the Philippines, he and his unit participated in action against
American and Filipino soldiers.  Many civilians were victims during
the war, and some of the Japanese soldiers in his unit raped women
and children.  He was so sickened by what happened that he left
his unit, hiding in the hills for the duration of the war.  Rather
than return to Japan, he remained in the Philippines, married a
Philippine woman, and had children.  He named his daughter after
the child who was raped to the point of dying by his unit.

As a soldier, he did what he was told.  Following orders is
what soldiers do.  However, there are some things a soldier will
not do.  Regardless of what country that soldier is fighting for.
That Japanese soldier had a conscience.

Not all soldiers do bad things.  Only a handful.  But no soldier
from any country is exempt.  We like to think of American soldiers
as being good, and always good.  And yet American soldiers have
done some bad things, even terrible things, in the course of
their duties.  We look at Abu Ghraib and ask ourselves, who was
responsible?  Who will be held accountable?  We read about an
American soldier going nuts and murdering a dozen innocent people
in Afghanistan, asking ourselves those same questions.

To use such a broad brush in describing Japanese soldiers is
conceited and just plain wrong.  While it is true there are no
innocents in war, it is a complete falsehood that all soldiers
are good/evil.

The late Anthony Burgess probably said it best, defining a
clockwork orange as being someone who is totally evil or totally
good.  Except for Alex, there is no such thing.

>>> Continued to next message

 * SLMR 2.1a * All hail the Higher Order!

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