For all the decades of self flagellation the Germans have gone (and are still) going through, the Japanese seem to have recovered nicely. I’ve always wondered how that could be. They live with sanitized versions of their history; relegating abominations like the Rape of Nanking, the Mengele-ization of Bataan Death March survivors and forced Korean ‘war brides’ to the dusty bin of ‘who, me?’ in their collective national pysche. If you were ever near Peace Park in Hiroshima on a certain anniversiary (and gaijins are solemnly warned to stay away during that period), you would hear no mention of Japan’s part in the war. Only the horrible devastion reigned on them by the United States. It’s quite a contrast to Pearl Harbor, site of the sneak (yes, i did say sneak) attack that started the whole brouhaha. The Japanese empire has a hefty part to play in the display, with nary a derogatory word. Quite a contrast. There seems to be a nationwide selective memory episode in Japan that endures in their consciousness, aided and abetted by their government. Now, part and parcel of a disfunctional family is the enabler. As far as ‘enablers’ go, the U.S. Government has done pretty well for the Japanese. As part of that deal with the Devil, we ~ American taxpayers, most far removed from those dark days ~ get to foot the bill.
Decades After Abuses by the Japanese, Guam Hopes the U.S. Will Make Amends
MERIZO, Guam, Aug. 11 – In July 1944, American warships were bobbing on the Pacific horizon when a squad of Japanese soldiers swept through this old Spanish fishing port. Jogging down sandy alleys and bursting into stucco homes, they rounded up 30 villagers, all known for their ties to the United States.
“They didn’t want any leaders to be around when the military landed,” Ignacio Cruz said as he recalled the roundup he watched as a 17-year-old. “Then, they machine-gunned them, they grenaded them, and if they found them surviving, they bayoneted them.”…
…Often overshadowed by the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan’s occupation of this American island started Dec. 10 and continued until American soldiers returned to Guam on July 21, 1944, a date celebrated as Liberation Day.
With 83 Congressional sponsors supporting the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, a House bill introduced in April, momentum for compensation is building.
A 1951 treaty between the United States and Japan absolved Japan of future individual American war claims, which means American taxpayers would be asked to pay for abuses committed by Japanese soldiers on American nationals on American territory.
The bill was introduced by Delegate Madeleine Z. Bordallo, a Democrat, who is Guam’s nonvoting representative in Congress.
Compensation for the Guamanians would be roughly comparable to the compensation paid to Japanese-Americans who were interned in the United States during the war.
Under that program, each claimant was paid $20,000. Over the program’s 10-year span, 82,250 Japanese-Americans were paid a total of $1.65 billion.
I’m confused how we’re responsible for redressing the wrongs visited upon a people by the Japanese Imperial Army. Okay, not confused. Pissed. But the Guamanians are far better off than the Bataan survivors. They had government lawyers at their hospital beds with releases for them to sign, exonerating the Japanese Army, the Japanese govenment and had to promise never to seek compensation. Sign or lose all your GI benefits. Like I said, pissed.
UPDATE: Japan sorta says ‘sorry’. The rest of Asia’s not buying it. (So how do we get to?)
MORE STUFF: We’re linking to Outside the Beltway. Good reads over there today.
Give it a rest, Bubba. You’ve been doing yourself (and the U.S.!) great credit since leaving office. Let’s focus on that.
People | Crusader | 
August 15, 2005 12:31 pm | 
Comments (6) 
that could prove to be a good and merciful thing.)
Or get the guys home.
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