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In world war 2 the concept of "war crimes" was nonexistent, or at the very least considered a normal part of the future of war. Both sides did horrible things t

In world war 2 the concept of "war crimes" was nonexistent, or at the very least considered a normal part of the future of war. Both sides did horrible things to each other's civilians which was a new precedent and set the stage for the industrial-waging wars we saw in the latter half of the 20th century. Asking for a victor of a war to apologize is such a Western concept that I doubt the Japanese would appreciate it.

localplume 4y ago
Are you really saying "both sides did bad things" in the same context of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by Japan? That is heavily historically revisionist and just plain offensive. Some comments here are nuts. Equating what the US and the Allies did during the war to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan is insane, and as a Jew just fucking disgraceful. People really need to get a history book. The link posted is interesting from a historical perspective, but the comments here just ragging on the US for the bombs and treating Japan like an innocent is just crazy to me. I guess thats what happens when you let war-crime denying Japan rewrite the history books. People here really don't grasp how truly _evil_ Imperial Japan was.
- joemazerino 4y ago
  Your last point was my point. Ask any Korean or Chinese person who lived through the war how Japan treated them
mananaysiempre 4y ago
Doing horrible things to supposedly your own civilians (or at least the ones you’re supposed to be liberating) was also not unheard of (even outside the Soviet Union), what with the 20 thousand residents of Normandy killed by Allied bombings during the invasion.
andrepd 4y ago
>In world war 2 the concept of "war crimes" was nonexistent Of course it wasn't. International law, or even modern international law, didn't start in 1945. The Geneva and Hague conventions predate wwii.
zarzavat 4y ago
After WW2 people were convicted of war crimes and either executed or imprisoned. And people have been convicted continuously up until the present day, for example in Germany. Yes obviously the reason nobody in the US was punished is because the US won the war. That doesn’t stop it from being regrettable that the people involved in blowing up two cities (the second one apparently by mistake), and we therefore have to hear from sanctimonious Americans claiming that the whole thing was no big deal!
- wkat4242 4y ago
  Not really. Germany has been terrible about prosecution. Several Dutch traitors have been able to live their lives in freedom in Germany because they obtained German citizenship due to SS membership so they couldn't be extradited, and Germany refused to retract their citizenship. And prosecuting them in Germany was delayed so long that eventually they were declared unfit to stand trial. It's ridiculous.
swarnie 4y ago
People have been tried retrospectively against laws and constitutions that didn't exist at the time of the crime. In fact i think the US did it with Saddam.

localplume 4y ago

Are you really saying "both sides did bad things" in the same context of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by Japan? That is heavily historically revisionist and just plain offensive. Some comments here are nuts. Equating what the US and the Allies did during the war to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan is insane, and as a Jew just fucking disgraceful. People really need to get a history book. The link posted is interesting from a historical perspective, but the comments here just ragging on the US for the bombs and treating Japan like an innocent is just crazy to me. I guess thats what happens when you let war-crime denying Japan rewrite the history books. People here really don't grasp how truly _evil_ Imperial Japan was.

joemazerino 4y ago
Your last point was my point. Ask any Korean or Chinese person who lived through the war how Japan treated them

mananaysiempre 4y ago

Doing horrible things to supposedly your own civilians (or at least the ones you’re supposed to be liberating) was also not unheard of (even outside the Soviet Union), what with the 20 thousand residents of Normandy killed by Allied bombings during the invasion.

andrepd 4y ago

>In world war 2 the concept of "war crimes" was nonexistent Of course it wasn't. International law, or even modern international law, didn't start in 1945. The Geneva and Hague conventions predate wwii.

zarzavat 4y ago

After WW2 people were convicted of war crimes and either executed or imprisoned. And people have been convicted continuously up until the present day, for example in Germany. Yes obviously the reason nobody in the US was punished is because the US won the war. That doesn’t stop it from being regrettable that the people involved in blowing up two cities (the second one apparently by mistake), and we therefore have to hear from sanctimonious Americans claiming that the whole thing was no big deal!

wkat4242 4y ago
Not really. Germany has been terrible about prosecution. Several Dutch traitors have been able to live their lives in freedom in Germany because they obtained German citizenship due to SS membership so they couldn't be extradited, and Germany refused to retract their citizenship. And prosecuting them in Germany was delayed so long that eventually they were declared unfit to stand trial. It's ridiculous.

swarnie 4y ago

People have been tried retrospectively against laws and constitutions that didn't exist at the time of the crime. In fact i think the US did it with Saddam.