Late at night, from March ninth to tenth of 1945, the United States Army Air Forces undertook the napalm bombing of Tokyo, “Operation Meetinghouse,” a crime that will live in infamy.
As an American, I wish to express my heartfelt shame for that barbaric act and to apologize to the Japanese people for that crime undertaken by the United States of America.
The US Army Air Forces targeted densely-populated areas of Tokyo full of the wooden housing they knew could be easily set aflame by the vicious napalm employed. Over 150 thousand civilians were killed, an additional 300 thousand were injured, and one million were left homeless. It was a massacre of civilians unprecedented in American history.
But, in fact, one month before, on February 13, 1945, the United States and England carried out a horrific carpet bombing of Dresden, Germany, which killed ten thousand, or more, people.
.
.
That bombing, and the bombing of Tokyo, ushered in a new form of war for the United States.
From 1945, the United States considered the targeting of innocent civilians for bombing to be normal—making impersonal cruelty central to its new approach to defense.
The March 10th bombing of Tokyo was preparation for the August 15th bombing of Hiroshima with a nuclear weapon. It was technical training for that horrific attack, but it was also training for the soul of how to destroy one’s conscience, numb one’s mind, and engage without any compassion in the most ruthless form of war.
.
.
That ruthless form of war did not end with the conclusion of World War Two. In Korea, in Vietnam, in Iraq, and now in Syria, indiscriminate bombing continues. It has become the American way of war.
The evil spirit that was unleashed with the bombing of Tokyo 80 years ago is not something of the past. It is a monster, a Godzilla, that grows only stronger with each passing day. It threatens to drag the United States, Japan, and the entire world into a world war that will result in the extermination of humanity.
That is right. The United States is seriously planning for a world war now, an act of insanity. No mistake there; We are preparing for a war that cannot be won, but that could kill us all.
You may have noticed that lately Americans do not use the word peace anymore. It seems that peace is no longer a goal for the American government.
The vast majority of politicians and generals think it is just fine to push for war and to make immense profits off of the stock of military contractors that they own.
I am deeply, deeply, ashamed.
I cannot forgive such behavior. I cannot forgive those who see war as but a convenient way to stimulate the economy and to make their own private profits.
The United States has an obligation to recognize the criminality of the bombing of Tokyo 80 years ago, and to do so now.
That means that the United States must end its addiction to war as the basis for its economy.
The bombing of Tokyo eighty years ago was a great crime. My deepest apologies to the Japanese people, and to the citizens of the earth, and my profoundest regrets for that evil action.
.
東京大空襲八十周年に対する謝罪
八十年前の今日、一九四五年、三月 九日から十日までの深夜に実行された東京大空襲は、歴史に残るアメリカの犯罪でした。アメリカ人として心より日本人の皆様にお詫び申し上げます。
八十年前のその夜に、アメリカの陸軍航空軍は民家が密集した人口密度の高い所を狙って、一夜にして被災者は３０万人、死者は１１万5千人以上、大規模な民間人の殺戮となりました。
実はその一カ月前の、１９４５年2月13日に、連合国軍（要するにイギリス空軍とアメリカ陸軍航空軍）がドイツ東部のドレスデンという都市を絨毯爆撃して１０万人近くの市民を残酷なやり方で殺しました。
それはこの新しい戦争の始まりでした。
アメリカが１９４５年に無罪の市民を爆撃対象とする新しい戦争方法を習得しました。そうして東京大空襲は八月十五日の原爆投下の準備でもありました。技術的な練習でもありましたし、自らの精神を殺すための無残な全面戦争の練習でもありました。
残念ながら、その残酷な戦争がおわっていません。朝鮮、ベトナム、イラク、そうしていまシリアまで無差別爆撃が続きました。それは、アメリカにとって戦争の手法になりました。
東京大空襲で始まった無差別戦争の悪霊が最近もっと活発になってきました。その悪霊はアメリカ、日本、そうして全世界を、人間の絶滅を起こす戦争に引きずりこんでいます。間違いありません。世界大戦を本格的に考えているアメリカは完全に狂ってしまいました。間違いありません。勝利がない世界大戦を本格的に準備しています。
最近アメリカ人は平和という言葉を口にしません。政府の目標は、平和ではないみたいです。戦争を一層進めて軍産の株で儲ける政治家と将軍が大半です。大変恥ずかしい事態です。
もう許せません。戦争を産業の刺激としかみていないアメリカ人を絶対許せません。８０周年にあたってアメリカがその当時に東京大空襲で起こした犯罪を認めるべきです。
そうして、アメリカは戦争中毒の経済を止めるべきです。
八十年前の東京大空襲は深い罪でした。日本人の皆様に対し、深くお詫び申し上げます。まことに申し訳ございません。
*
Click the share button below to email/forward this article. Follow us on Instagram and X and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost Global Research articles with proper attribution.
This article was originally published on Fear No Evil.
Emanuel Pastreich serves as president of the Asia Institute and director of the Center for Truth Politics at Green Liberty (green-liberty.org/ctp). Pastreich ran as a candidate for president as an independent in 2020, and briefly in the Green Party in 2023.
Global Research is a reader-funded media. We do not accept any funding from corporations or governments. Help us stay afloat. Click the image below to make a one-time or recurring donation.
Counter Information publish all articles following the Creative Commons rule creative commons. If you don't want your article to appear in this blog email me and I will remove it asap.
No comments:
Post a Comment