USA and Japanese War Crimes

[Len Colby]

the Japanese holocaust is in every way the equal of the Nazi holocaust

So how come we're able to discuss 'it' openly and without threat of legal sanction?

The Nazi Holocaust can be discussed on this forum and in most countries with out sanction.

There doesn’t seem to be a movement (outside of Japan at least) to deny the Japanese Holocaust, to the contrary there seem to be several scholars dedicated to shed light on it.

Some of the laws that outlaw Holocaust denial apply to any denial of genocide or “hate speech” thus denying the Japanese Holocaust could also be punished.

There are no laws prohibiting discussion of the Holocaust only laws (wrong as they may be) forbidding denying or minimizing it.

[Sid Walker]

the Japanese holocaust is in every way the equal of the Nazi holocaust

So how come we're able to discuss 'it' openly and without threat of legal sanction?

The Nazi Holocaust can be discussed on this forum and in most countries with out sanction.

There doesn’t seem to be a movement (outside of Japan at least) to deny the Japanese Holocaust, to the contrary there seem to be several scholars dedicated to shed light on it.

Some of the laws that outlaw Holocaust denial apply to any denial of genocide or “hate speech” thus denying the Japanese Holocaust could also be punished.

There are no laws prohibiting discussion of the Holocaust only laws (wrong as they may be) forbidding denying or minimizing it.

This is not the place, Len, to discuss what you describe as the 'Holocaust' in detail - or to discuss what you describe as 'Holocaust Denial'.

Suffice it to say that in Japan, there is debate about the events of the Second World War and the true extent of Japanese atrocities. This debate is of sufficient international inteest to be reported HERE recently - although it may not be the topic of choice in Murdoch papers.

A comparison of laws that attempt to regulate discussion about alleged mass killings in the mid 20th century by the Germans on the one hand - and the Japanese on the other - is instructuve. There is a clear difference.

IMO, Len, you practise blatant sophistry when you say "There are no laws prohibiting discussion of the Holocaust only laws (wrong as they may be) forbidding denying or minimizing it."

A key issue in both debates, of course, is the extent of the massacres.

How can one openly discuss a historical topic if the very scale of the event is "out of bounds" in the discussion?

In an earlier post, Stirling made the following claim, referring to alleged mass killings:

The Soviet and Japanese numbers just keep growing. As do those who died under Mao during the Great Leap and assorted purges.

Sterling

I wonder what evidence there is for saying this in the case of the Soviet Union, Sterling?

My impression is quite the opposite - and that release of data from the Soviet archives since the 1990s has not supported the horrifically high estimates for "victims of Stalinism" popularized in earlier decades by Solzhenitsyn and the western Cold War propaganda machine.

One might take the view that the Russians have manicured their own archives to sanitize their history. Perhaps so.

Yet they did - under Gorbachev - have the decency to accept responsibility for the Katyn massacre.

Edited February 13, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Len Colby]

Your right Sid this isn’t really the place to discuss this, which raises the question why did you bring it up?

Discussing an event is not the same as denying it, in both cases there are many aspects that can be delved into besides the extent of the slaughter. Yes denying Japan’s Holocaust is permitted and even encouraged in some circles but not because of a dedication to free speech it seems but rather that the Japanese unlike the Germans have yet to fully own up to the atrocities their ancestors committed in the 30s and 40s.

[Sid Walker]

Your right Sid this isn’t really the place to discuss this, which raises the question why did you bring it up?

Discussing an event is not the same as denying it, in both cases there are many aspects that can be delved into besides the extent of the slaughter. Yes denying Japan’s Holocaust is permitted and even encouraged in some circles but not because of a dedication to free speech it seems but rather that the Japanese unlike the Germans have yet to fully own up to the atrocities their ancestors committed in the 30s and 40s.

I didn't bring up the topic of what happened in Germany.

Read the thread carefully and you'll see I was responsing to a comparison made explicitly by an other participant.

I did point out - in the context of previous discussion on this thread about large scale atrocities (aka holocausts) - that the alleged Japanese holocaust is not the 'equivalent' of the alleged German holocaust - not in terms of contemporary discourse.

The two events are treated in a distinctly different way.

I also expressed scepticism about allegations of Russia's alleged holocaust. I don't believe Solzhenitsyn's high estimates were accurate - not within an order of magnitude.

Happily, making such a statement does not run foul of the criminal law in any known jurisdiction - and in fairness to the grand old anti-Communist warrior himself, I doubt Solzhenitsyn would have wanted it any other way.

Edited February 14, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Len Colby]

You brought up Holocaust denial and laws against it. Since I disagree with such laws and I don’t want to take this thread further off topic unless you say something completely ridiculous this is my last word on the topic here.