From: MaxPlumm@aol.com
Date: Fri Apr 11 2003 - 22:45:55 MDT
aclough wrote:
"I'm sure that there we will miss scores of opportunities to gain the
approval of the Iraqis and help them towards an ideal democracy. Our
mismanagement might result in starvation. Our soldiers might be prejudiced
against Arabs. Our leader's speeches might slander the efforts that the
Iraqis make in bringing themselves towards democracy. In short, we might do
just as bad a job of occupying Iraq as we
did of occupying Japan after WWII."
With all due respect, one can simply suggest that the scenarios of
mismanagement you forecast "might" not happen, either. But more to the point,
I would ask that you clarify your position regarding the "bad job" we did of
occupying Japan after WWII. Last time I checked, Japan has been a stable
democracy and free nation since 1952.
Some highlights of our "bad job" of occupation include the granting of
suffrage to women, with fourteen million of them going to the polls in April
1946. In fact, thirty-nine women, including one well-known prostitute, were
elected to the Diet. Additionally, MacArthur and Yoshida put an end to the
"absentee landlordism" that so dominated the lives of Japanese farmers. By
1950, ninety percent of Japanese farmland was owned by the farmers
themselves. Beyond that, MacArthur dismissed over five thousand officers of
Japan's secret police and established habeas corpus. Indeed, a truly dismal
record.
Regardless of the missteps that may occur along the way during the temporary
occupation, the odds of Iraq becoming a flourishing democracy afterward are
still a thousand times better than those had Saddam Hussein and his heirs
remained in power.
Regards,
Max Plumm
"As we were driving on a deserted highway between Oiso and Tokyo, two
American GIs suddenly appeared and signaled my driver to halt. I imagined
them to be on some kind of marauding expedition, but they turned out to be
soldiers returning to Tokyo who had lost their way. I offered to take them
back to Tokyo."
"We had not proceeded far before they were pressing chocolates, then chewing
gum, and finally cigarettes upon me. I recall thinking at the time that it
was the natural way of acting on their part, and the inherent good nature of
the average American, which enabled the Occupation of Japan to be completed
without a shot being fired."
-Shigeru Yoshida
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