How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
How business, doctors and journalists prey on your food anxieties I
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_<br />
World War II<br />
Humiliafi<strong>on</strong><br />
Forthese U .S .<br />
soldiers captured<br />
in the Philip•<br />
pines in 1942, sur,<br />
render was just<br />
the beginning of<br />
the price they<br />
paid for U .S. un•<br />
preparedness .<br />
No more war<br />
"The Yanks are<br />
not coming"<br />
expressed the<br />
overwhelming sentiment<br />
in the U.S .<br />
at the beginning<br />
of WWII . But it<br />
takes two to keep<br />
the peace .<br />
historic achievement that sa~ed cisilizati<strong>on</strong><br />
in thc ~corld, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> is more<br />
intent <strong>on</strong> denigrating the Wcst in<br />
general <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> the United States in<br />
particular . Svmbolic of this mindset<br />
Ila%c been tlle annual pilgrimages to<br />
Hiroshima <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> Nagasaki to denounce<br />
the dropping of atomic<br />
bombs <strong>on</strong> those cttles .<br />
The recisi<strong>on</strong>ist line is tllat Japan svas<br />
"Yeadv to surrender" am-svav <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> that<br />
the bombs were dropped for mere<br />
vengeance, or because the Japanesc<br />
s~ere of another race, or for aN arten, of<br />
other dish<strong>on</strong>orable reas<strong>on</strong>s . Wlrat<br />
matters is Mhether Japan was prepared<br />
to make peace in 1945 <strong>on</strong> the terms<br />
being odered, Nrhich ~~cre "unc<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>al<br />
surrender ." Those terms-or<br />
something close to them, since the<br />
.Allies did relent to the extent ofallowing<br />
the emperor to remain titular head<br />
of sratc-Ncere essential to the historic<br />
transformati<strong>on</strong> of Japan that has kept<br />
it a peaceful nati<strong>on</strong> tbr halfa centurv,<br />
despire its manv wars of aggressi<strong>on</strong><br />
against Aussia, Korea, Manchuria,<br />
C :hina, tlle United States <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> Southeasr<br />
Asian nati<strong>on</strong>s in the preceding<br />
halFtentun .<br />
As in Ciermane, the \trestcrn dcmoa-::cies<br />
rid themselces of ;t historic<br />
nnd d :tngcrous cnemy in Japan in the<br />
The a s A'OT._:Coroin~. .<br />
best wav possi ble-b~• tunling it into a<br />
democratic <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> peaceful nati<strong>on</strong> . This<br />
enormous achicrement, for the West<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> for the ~eorld, depended <strong>on</strong> occupati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>nrol of a~cholc societv,<br />
notsinlplv its militarVcapituiati<strong>on</strong> . In<br />
short, the questi<strong>on</strong> is not whether<br />
Japan sras "rcad%" to make peace<br />
beture the atomic bomhs ssere<br />
dropped, as rerisi<strong>on</strong>ist historians<br />
daim, but ~ehedler du Japanese govcrnment<br />
was prepared to make peace<br />
11RVOU!vi~:~:~<br />
rr" . auoccr<br />
~~~(MERICAN ptAwnas=+~t<br />
YOUTO CONGA ~ E<br />
p}t GRIMA<br />
}o14d4hi0~lOP }2tt9-I'2<br />
under the terms oflered-which is to<br />
say, the terms that made a lasting<br />
peace possible .<br />
With the fiftieth anni of<br />
the end of World War II being<br />
celebrated this m<strong>on</strong>th, ~~c must also<br />
recognize that this ~.~ar became nco<br />
essan- ouly becausc the democratic<br />
nati<strong>on</strong>s left thenlschcs dangerousle<br />
vulnerable . The cost of such \~ulncrabifiny<br />
is, of course, e%en greater in<br />
a nuclear age . IIIIIIIII<br />
128 Forbcs ∎ August 14, 1995<br />
http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/agf97d00/pdf