The Logic Off Topic list

Mr. Kondo
Please accept my apologies, I don't want to insult the Japanese people 
today. I have been to Japan many times and I have a lot of respect for 
modern Japan.

Kondo-san wrote
>>If we had blockaded them, they would have perfected their own atomic
>>bomb, they would have perfected their jet, their long range
>>intercontential bomber, etc - all of which they were working on.
>
>Japan at that time had no such abilities of any kind.
>What "they" could do was to fly balloons reinforced with saccharide taken 
>from a kind of potato and tell the citizens to fight with bamboo spears, as 
>you wrote.

Actually I learned a lot by watching the History Channel. When I was a 
kid they used to play these "Victory at Sea" documentaries which were 
sort of propaganda. However, a lot of factual information is in these 
current documentaries. Also there are a number of modern books on WWII 
with plenty of details. 

Here are a few things I learned :
- the Japanese sent thousands of balloons flying across the pacific 
toward America, and these actually killed some people in oregon, and set 
some forest fires
- the Japanese in China had great knowledge of biological weapons, and 
had tested these on chinese - how long would it be before they got the 
idea to put some of this stuff on the ballons
- the Germans and Japanese were working on atomic bombs. the japanese 
effort was at the University of Kyoto - a city which the US did NOT bomb 
because they knew the cultural significance. At the end of the war in 
Europe, a german u-boat submarine carrying a ton of uranium, and two 
Japanese officers was on its way to Japan, turned itself in to the 
americans and the officers committed suicide.
- the Japanese were given the designs for the ME-262 jet figher, and made 
some alterations making it smaller, I think they called it "Cherry 
Blossom". These were actually in use
- they also developed a submarine that could carry airplanes with folded 
wings. They sent this to the Panama Gulf to bomb it, to prevent American 
ships to come from the Atlantic to the Pacific. However, it was called 
back to Japan in an emergency to defend the Japanese home land against 
possible American attack. Its actually a very clever idea, and could have 
produced havoc in the US too.
- there plans in both Germany and Japan for a long range bomber to bomb 
the US, and the Germans were working on a missle that could hit the US 
from Germany

another chilling thought, is this. after the war, the top German nuclear 
scientists were brought to England where they discussed matters with 
English physicts. After that conversation, and a few hours thought, they 
realized how they could have built their atomic bomb. 

Consider this question, if Germany or Japan had developed the bomb first, 
do you think they would have had any hesitation to use on LA or NY or 
every place they could think of?

I always remember this story, at the end of WWII, a number of Japanese 
POWs were loaded into an American ship and it sailed to Japan. The men 
were very sullen. When it arrived in Japan, the doors opened, and they 
were told they could go. The men suddenly smiled and cheered. They had 
assumed that they would all be tortured and executed - the same way they 
had treated their prisoners - and were amazed that they were simply 
turned loose to go back to their lives.

In 1948 when Japanese were starving, America sent food. America set up a 
democracy in Japan, and has been the main customer of Japan ever since. 
Most of the wealth in Japan today came from the US trade deficits.


>>Hirohito was reponsible for about 10,000,000 - 15,000,000 civilian deaths
>>in China, Phillipines, Malaysia, Burma, etc. and a few in Pearl Harbor
>>and probably some Korean comfort girls too.
>
>I also think Hirohito was responsible.  Maybe he didn't want to start the 
>invasion and war himself, nor know about massacre of innocent people, but 
>he at least approved of the invasion.  

This is not entirely clear. There was some new evidence that someone very 
high up signed an order approving the execution of civilians. 

One other detail which is a well known fact, is that a few days before 
the Pearl Harbor attack, President Roosevelt sent a personal message to 
Emperor Hirohito asking that they find a way to maintain peace. There was 
no answer .... other than the answer given on December 7 at 8 am.


>Hirohito himself thought that way. 
>When he met general Douglas McArthur , Hirohito said, "I came here as a 
>person who's totally responsible for all decisions and actions that have 
>been done in this war by the Japanese nation.  I came here to put myself 
>into your hands.  I don't care what will happen to me.  Please do not 
>distress Japanese citizens any more."
>
>McArthur was deeply touched and did not accuse him.  I think it was a wise 
>decision.  If Hirohito was executed, hatred against the US would cover all 
>over Japan, and the US might lose one of the most important allies in the 
>post WW2 world.

Maybe so. The Germans didn't mind Hitler dying. In Italy, the Italians 
killed Mussoline and his mistress and hung their bodies upsdie down. 
Luckily, McArthur was very familiar with Asian values, and someone who 
thought to the future. I think he made the right choice. 

The only thing that he did that was wrong, was not insist that the 
Japanese schools teach the true version of history so that these things 
won't be repeated. I have known dozens of Japanese, and they usually feel 
that they were victims and feel sorry for themselves. However, most of 
Asia still fears Japan. And the fact that Japanese prime ministers pray 
at the graves of war criminals these days, and there are those right-wing 
loudspeaker trucks driving around Tokyo blaring war like messages shows 
that Japan is not ready to really accept responsibilty for thier actions 
like Germany has done.