Why does nobody talk any more about Unit 731 and the atrocities committed

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Japanese against the Chinese in the Sino-Japanese war? We hear endlessly about the Holocaust the Nazis perpetrated but very rarely about what the Japs did at the same time?

[Selatius]

1. You live in a very Eurocentric society

The only way to escape that is to go to East Asia. It may not be remembered in Europe or the US as much as it is remembered in East Asia. For them, it is not easy to forget. They remember that war and the Japanese crimes the same way Europeans still remember Hitler and his atrocities.

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2. Thanks, that helps.

[MnFats]

3. remember Japan is still in denial about its actions..

...the rape of Nanking,for example.
....Japanese school textbooks omit virtually all references to Japan's role in igniting the war.

by the way, I think "Japs" is an inappropriate term. No offense,but...

[begin_within]

7. Sorry. To me, it's like saying, "Brits" or "Yanks"

[Terran1212]

4. Unit 731 was absorbed by the US Military

Its practices were of use to the United States.

[Godhumor]

5. Medicinal cover up

The long and short of it is that Americans wanted the research and the discoveries after they came across Unit 731. We agreed to not press charges or criminalize the unit in exchange for the research being handed over.

Not being a conspiracy theorist here, it is a known fact and I teach it to my social studies classes during the WWII unit.

[newyawker99]

18. Hi Godhumor!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Fountain79]

6. I once read an article...

That compared the Japanese and German images and actions after the war. The Germans have had to atone far more than the Japanese had to do. In my opinion it partly has something to do with the Atomic weapons used against the Japanese at the end of the war.

[madmark]

8. The japanese were so bad in Nanking that the Nazi diplomat stationed

wrote to Hitler and asked if there was any way he could help stop them (Hitler instructed the diplomat not to take or send any more pictures of the atrocities and to keep the whole thing to himself).

[bpilgrim]

9. Fallujah == Nanking

please don't use the derogatory 'Japs' when referring to the Japanese.

peace

[The Magistrate]

11. Not Even Close, My Friend

[bpilgrim]

12. From Nanjing 1937 to Fallujah 2004

http://hnn.us/articles/5121.html

I would argue that what we have done is even worse but the parallels are certainly there.

peace

[The Magistrate]

13. You Could Not Make That Case, Sir

We both know the history of the period well enough to know that.

The problem with hyperbole as a form of argument is two-fold. First, it offers the person you are trying to reach who does not agree with you an occassion for resistance that is well grounded, by simply saying, "it is not really that bad." Second, it obscures what the real wrong you wish exposed and reacted to was: this folows naturally from the initial reaction, since once so,eome has said, "It is not really that bad," they will be inclined to be dismissive of the thing that falls far short of the thing you have invoked. Better to simply say there was a good deal of indiscriminate killing on a battlefield thick with non-combatants; that the thing was conducted as an excericse in collective punishment of a populace that mostly supported the resistance fighters. People will listen to that, and if they have any human feeling, will abhor it.

"Once you have gilded it, it no longer is a lily."

[bpilgrim]

14. we meted out collective punishment against a whole city

turned the whole city into a free fire zone even the japanese had a green zone in the city and didn't destroy the whole thing.

we deemed EVERY male 14 and older to be a combatant and killed everything that moved.

call it what ever you want but that seems worse to me.

why are we afraid to recognize our own BRUTAL imperialism here on DU?

peace

[The Magistrate]

15. That Zone, Sir

Was merely the foreigners' cantonment, and hardly indicates any real restraint on the part of the Japanese. For all the talk of free-fire zones, even the article you referenced does not estimate casualties at more than a few thousands. Again, you know the history of the period well enough that it not necessary for me to paint the whole picture of Nanking, and of the general progress of Japanese troops through the countryside and other cities and towns. And again, my friend, you gain nothing by this sort of exaggerated comparison: it will not move one person who does not already agree with you to express agreement with your views. It is useless as a line for rousing popular opposition to the campaign in Iraq. Surely increasing and solidifying the amount of such opposition in our country is the point of agitation on the subject?

[bpilgrim]

16. kept people ALIVE and allowed WITNESSES to survive and tell the story

it appears to me that our leaders learned that lesson well and decided to lock down the whole city before engaging it and therefore no one can give an accurate estimate of the casualties which looks to be pretty grim from the cheap seats.

our current policies & behavior in the ME is very similar to imperial japans in asia during and before wwII right down to 'ILLEGAL' combatants (though i notice a shift/preference to 'enemy' combatants - which fails to distinguish them as extralegal pows in the law, so go figure) including rape, murder & TORTURE :puke:

do we really believe we will ever be able to live down the shame? have the germans or japanese? shoot we still use them as handy shorthand for evil to this very day/post.

peace

[The Magistrate]

17. But Most Fallujah Residents Did Survive, Sir

There are plenty of witnesses. In neither instance did the occupying power intend to kill everyone, and that is a difficult business to achieve in any case.

It is certainly true that U.S. actions in Iraq are in amny instances atrocious, and that a great many people around the world are coming to associate the U.S. and its military with abominable behavior. This will likely have lasting consequences.

[bpilgrim]

20. i hope so ---------- > VIDEO

http://chris-floyd.com/fallujah/hospital.htm
http://chris-floyd.com/fallujah/bus.htm

discuss...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5439010

peace

[pinniped]

10. Japan blamed that on the Empire of Japan, as such, no apology is...

necessary.

I heard that last year or so.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

19. "Men Behind the Sun" and "Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre"

are films about Unit 731 by T.F. Mou. Both are available on DVD. The first film has two scenes that are quite horrific and quite real, which you probably should know about before making a purchase/rental.

Here's a review from DU's Big McLargehuge.

Men Behind the Sun
http://www.horrorview.com/Men%20Behind%20the%20Sun.htm

and an interview with TF Mou:
http://www.horrorview.com/Interview%20Files/TunFeiMouInterview.htm

Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre
http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/A-D/black_sun.html