[A-List] From Japan: A View of Insanity

[Bill Totten <shimogamo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

by Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers

LewRockwell.com (May 17 2004)

One of the most well-known early TV dramas in Japan was a drama called,
"I want to be a clam".

The show first aired in 1959 and was the story of a small town barber,
named Shimizu, who was forced into military service in World War Two.

During the war, Shimizu was a lowly private guarding American POWs.  One
day, his commanding officer ordered him to kill a particularly
troublesome prisoner.

Shimizu reluctantly followed orders and murdered the American soldier.

I am not making excuses for Shimizu's actions, but in this case, had he
not followed orders, he would have been executed himself.  That's the
way Imperial Japan was.

Such is the insanity that war brings.

When the war ended, Shimizu went back home.  But soon thereafter, he was
arrested by American MPs and sent to the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal and
sentenced to death by hanging.

In the final scene from the drama, Shimizu walks up thirteen steps
towards the gallows and says:

"Heitai ni torareru koto mo nai. So da, watashi wa kai ni naritai" - "If
I were a clam, I wouldn't have to be a soldier".

Japanese language is a very romantic language, I think.  And in Japanese,
the above statement sounds like poetry.  And it is full of double
entendre.

It could also be translated to mean:

"If I were a clam, I would be under the ocean. Where there is no war."

Or: "If I were a clam. I could say nothing."

This drama carried a serious anti-war message.  But it also brought up
several complaints from the Japanese that, over these years, I have come
to agree with.

How could the USA and England try and execute low ranking soldiers when
high ranking Allied commanders were guilty of much worse war crimes and
were deemed not guilty?

How could the Atomic bombing and murder of 200,000 people at Hiroshima
and Nagasaki not be called a "War crime"?  How about the fire-bombing of
Tokyo that killed 140,000 civilians in one night?

None of these places were military targets.  Perhaps someday the history
books will call these crimes what they really were: Genocide.

But until then, we have to live with what Garry Wills said:

"Only the winners decide what were war crimes".

And now America grapples with the stark reality of "war crimes"
committed by US forces and their mercenaries: The torturing of prisoners
in Iraq, Afghanistan, and of course, Guantanamo.

Someone must take responsibility.  Americans are shocked and upset.

Strange though, all the Japanese people who I've talked to are not
surprised that this ordeal of torture and war crimes were delivered at
the hands of Americans.  No, I haven't met one Japanese who was
surprised.

The over two dozen Japanese I asked all said the same thing:

"War makes people do crazy things".

Perhaps Japanese people think this way because they have seen war up
close.  Most Americans haven't.

If those Iraqis, who were tortured and forced to watch as well as
perform sex acts, were religious people, they probably thought that they
had landed in Dante's Inferno.

And I read where about fifty percent of all Americans claim to be
Christian.

Hmmm?  Steven Weinberg said:

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things
and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things,
that takes religion."  I wonder what that says about people who claim to
be Christian all the while being pro-war?

George Bush says:

"This is not the America I know".

And now we have some low ranking MP's and soldiers who will have to be
penalized somehow.  But, as usual, the guys at the top get away.

Just like in the story about Shimizu.

But that's not the problem viewed from over here, America.

Sure, Lynddie England and others are caught on film torturing Iraqi's.
Sure there are thousands of other, even more horrendous photos that we
will probably never see.

But, the prevailing opinion from this side of the Pacific is that the
real responsibility for this entire mess lies far above people like Ms
England.

Sure, she is ill and needs help.  Sure, her life is ruined.  So are the
lives of untold numbers of Iraqi's, Afghani's, and yes, Americans too.

War is madness.  War makes people do insane things.

So are these people who committed these "war crimes" counter to the
Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, worse
than the people at the top who started this war who are in violation of
the Nuremburg Tribunal, article 6(a) ... namely, planning, preparation,
initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of
international treaties, agreements or assurances?

I don't think so.  It's not even a comparable crime.  It's like
comparing apples and oranges.

It seems common sense, to me, that the people who created this deranged
war are by far the most guilty concerning crimes against peace and
crimes against humanity.

And, in turn, all who supported or did not speak out against this
revolting, perverted war from the start are accessory to mass murder.

But, don't worry ... Small potatoes, America.

When you are constantly waging war, you can always plead insanity.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rogers/rogers38.html

Mike (in Tokyo) Rogers was born and raised in the USA and moved to Japan
in 1984.  He has worked as an independent writer, producer, and
personality in the mass media for nearly 30 years.

Copyright 2004 LewRockwell.com


Bill Totten     http://www.ashisuto.co.jp/english/