This week's winner is Thomas Koval of Bear who writes the following (my emphasis):
In a recent letter a writer proclaimed the pride of being a liberal. The writer used former Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman as examples of stalwarts of liberalism. Both of these men have contributed significantly to the success of our great nation. What the letter writer failed to point out is that President Roosevelt, fearing for the safety of our nation, started interment camps for people of Japanese heritage, while President Truman, justifiably so, ordered the atomic bombing of Japan in order to save hundreds of thousands of American soldiers lives.These strategic acts would be harshly criticized by today's liberals. I conclude that liberalism is not bad. It is today's liberals that have lost their direction.
OK Tom, I certainly have no beef with the decision to drop the A-bomb on Japan; however, interning American citizens merely because of their race/ethnicity -- in prison camps?? Without due process? C'mahn. This is one of the biggest blights on our country in American 20th century history. Should we extrapolate from your thesis that we should now intern Arab-Americans merely because they share a common ancestry with a current foe?
Absolutely not. It's bad enough that groups like CAIR (along with their absolutist pals on the Left) scream and holler about even using a term like "Islamic fascism," let alone mere surveillance of groups that may have some shady dealings with less savory people in the mid-east. But that would have been the just -- and legal -- thing to do in the 40s -- surveillance of any Japanese-Americans who were suspected of assisting the Empire during the war. Not throwing them in camps. FDR should not be venerated for that action whatsoever.
What is really shameful is the fact that most of U.S. media today refuses to report the historical fact that our U.S. intelligence code-breakers who broke the Japanese code discovered hundreds of Japanese aliens and Japanese-Americans in those West Coast states who were functioning as spies for Imperial Japan.
They were watching all of our Naval shipping and had infiltrated many of our defense plants. But had they been arrested, this would have compromised and ended our breaking of that Japanese code ; which later helped the United States win the decisive Battle of Midway.
The hundreds of Japanese spies on our West Coast had to be stopped without any revelation that we had broken the Japanese code.
For this reason, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 (excerpt of article by Wes Kinsolver)
Will: so how did interning virtually ALL Japanese assist in that cause?
Posted by: Hube at October 3, 2006 06:41 PMBut that would have been the just -- and legal -- thing to do in the 40s -- surveillance of any Japanese-Americans who were suspected of assisting the Empire during the war. Not throwing them in camps.
Hube, how do you ever expect to score points with your dream girl Michelle Malkin with this sort of level-headed analysis?? ;)
Posted by: dan at October 3, 2006 09:16 PM"Will: so how did interning virtually ALL Japanese assist in that cause? "
we didn't intern virtually ALL Japanese. A military exclusion zone was declared - within 50 miles of the coast and all of Hawaii. Hawaii was placed under Martial Law. Those of Japanese extraction who did not remove themselves from the exclusion zone were relocated to internment camps.
how was this better than simply arresting all the known agents? if we had done that the Japanese would have known we had broken their code and would have stoped using it to transmit information about troop and ship movements.
if it helps, think of it as a special draft... we drafted millions of men to fight and die, and we had a special "draft" for japanese to sit and wait.
Posted by: steamboat willy at October 4, 2006 12:16 AMthe other part of the Why is because it was what the Japanese military expected us to do, so it did not raise any suspicians regarding their codes. The Japanese Military intered Allied citizens in Japan and in the pacific teritories they occupied.
that's not to say "it's ok for us cause they did it to" just that it is a reason why the tactic worked.
Posted by: steamboat willy at October 4, 2006 12:23 AM