(urth) (no subject)

[Son of Witz]

On Jan 19, 2011, at 8:37 AM, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote:

> Allow me to take the Devil's side for a bit. The Imperial Japanese culture in the early 1940s glorified nihilistic fanaticism. Long after it was clear that they would not win the war, the Emperor and the J government had decided that if they were beaten there should be a genocide of the Japanese people. This, incidentally, was the ultimate decision of Hitler's inner circle and cultic followers for Germany as well. The Japanese soldier's who bought in to that culture did all they could to make themselves detestable (inhuman) to American Marines and sailors. You would go to lend medical aid to a wounded Japanese soldier and likely as not he would have a grenade in his hand waiting to take you out. They used the White Flag the same way. And they were famously callous in the their own treatment of captives. Obviously, this undermined US forces willingness to not Overkill. The use of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused Japan's leadership to truly face what their imagined genocide would be like. They presented them with an example of that genocide, stripped of all it's potential glory, and thus brought them back to rationality. It only barely worked. Hiroshima alone wasn't enough and there was _actually_ a serious attempt at a coup.

That is a fascinating take. I've never heard it expressed that way. Admitedly I'm no student of WWII. I had forgotten about the genocidal suicide pact. What a motivation that would be to their soldiers to stop at nothing! And the idea that this near genocide is then presented as a sobering reality.  Ouch and wow!