ISIS BEFORE ISIS: THE JAPANESE WROTE THE BOOK ON GENOCIDE

Most of us have never seen or heard of something as barbaric as ISIS...it is a whole different level of disturbing...well, I think it is quite fair to say that ISIS had nothing on the Japanese during WWII. ISIS might even be using an old playbook from Japan's military library. No one could behead like the Japanese. Let's only hope and pray that ISIS doesn't even come close to the sadism that Japan set off on the world, most notably China.

When we think of WWII we, perhaps, think mostly of the horrors that were perpetrated on the Jewish populations in Europe…and it is true that approximately 6 million Jews were exterminated in that War. The gravity of this tragedy can still be felt….and we should never forget the unspeakable inhumanities against the Jewish people….

But, forgotten by most of the history books, let it be known that the Chinese suffered much more in numbers than did even the Jews. Most of us don’t think of the Chinese when we think of WWII. We think foremost of Germany, then Japan, Russia, Italy, France, England, and virtually all of Europe. Historically we don’t hear much in this country about the invasion of China by a highly imperialistic Japan in 1937. Germany didn’t officially start their assault on the world until September of 1939. Human rights atrocities were taking shape in Germany before 1939 but there were no actual attacks…not so in China. Japan wanted China’s vast land mass, and Japan was much more militaristic and provocative so, why not a little genocide?

The invasion of Shanghai was first…it was a precursor to the invasion of Nanking, China’s capital city at that time. Japanese soldiers were known to chop off the heads of Chinese soldiers (and civilians, even babies) in ceremonial style…keeping a competitive score with their fellow Japanese soldiers. Chinese women were brutally raped…by the tens of thousand…babies were charred in the streets of Shanghai. It was arguably even more savage than anything launched by the Germans.

Of all the countries engaged in WWII, Russia had the most casualties…estimated at between 23 million and 28 million, but not far behind is China. China lost the second most of any country involved in WWII....a breathtaking 20 million….virtually all were killed by the Japanese. During a six-week period, the Japanese military killed thousands and thousands of unarmed civilians, and tortured up to 80,000 more in a vile manner. Additionally, General Yasuji Okamura implemented his Three Alls Policy (Kill All, Burn All, Loot All) which was responsible for around 3 million deaths in of itself. Due to the Japanese, 80% of Chinese who died during World War II were civilians. Wrap your head around that for a second. Of the 20 million Chinese who died in WWII, 16 million were civilians.

In contrast, the United States lost 470,000 …and only 12,000 of those were civilians.

I think it could be said that Japan killed as many people during WWII as did the Germans. Japan not only killed 20 million Chinese, but 4 million Indonesians and over 1 million people living in the Philippines.

The Germans are associated with WWII much more so than the Japanese…but history has recorded that subhuman atrocities were very much in style in Japan. After the war the United States occupied and rebuilt Japan…and in a decision that completely boggles my mind to this day, the United States allowed one of the biggest war criminals in history to remain in power as Emperor. Emperor Hirohito of Japan presided over the death of 2,403 Americans in an unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor and he killed an additional 103,000 in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. He is later shown (after the War) in photos standing side by side with General Douglas MacArthur.

Can you imagine if Osama Bin Laden (who killed about 3,000 people during 9/11) were allowed to have a photograph taken with him alongside General Petraeus (following 9/11) and if Bin Laden was allowed to stay in power and allowed to work with the United States government? How would you feel if you were Chinese and the person who administrated the deaths of 20 million of your people was having a nice peaceful brunch with the leading General of the United States following the war?

Some things are just incredible and almost impossible to comprehend….and the suffering undertaken by the Chinese people in World War II at the hands of the Japanese…only 75 years ago, should not go unnoticed…..nor should the historically savage treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese dating back centuries.

Just think, we can be sure that many of these sadistic Japanese soldiers who beheaded hundreds of Chinese soldiers and civilians and raped countless women are still alive today in Japan…they are waking up to their morning tea. It is also quite possible that the children of these subhuman killers are peace loving people who would never think to harm anyone, or start a war against anyone…

How can you explain that? Do you think culture is powerful???? We must not allow our minds to be turned over to mass thinking. Independent, critical thinking is as important now as it was 75 years ago.

Food for Thought…..