FALL OF TYRANTS (Great care recommended in treatment of Hussein)

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | December 15, 2003 | James Sterngold

[Scenic Sounds]

Every Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, the fate of Hideki Tojo comes to life in Japan. The United States declared Tojo, briefly a prime minister, a war criminal and he was hanged after a two- year trial, along with a half dozen other leaders. But the executions hardly settled their legacy as the U.S. had intended.

[Scenic Sounds]

Now that we got him, what's the best way of disposing of him?

[Ancesthntr]

Despite the apparent controversy over Tojo in Japan (which is just a bunch of historical revisionism, IMHO), I don't notice that the Japanese are busy trying to acquire nukes to destroy American cities. Executing Tojo, just like leading Nazis, helped to pacify those 2 nations. The populace understood that there was a line which they could cross, or else. And when they understood it and tasted the fruits of behaving in a civilized manner, they almost certainly got to the point of never wanting a repeat of the leaders of the 1930's. Maybe the Iraqis will come to that point with regard to SH and the Baathists.

That being said, the US shouldn't execute SH - it should be the Iraqis themselves.

[elbucko]

Now that we got him, what's the best way of disposing of him?

Give him a fair trial, then hang him.

All facetiousness aside, the concept that a criminal of this magnitude should be allowed to live on to the end of his days, would be a crime in itself. Let the Iraqi's try him and off him.

Just let it be done. Or ask no soldier to imperil himself in the name of national security. Ask no father to bury his son.

[KeyWest]

Agree. The Tojo cult is not a big a deal as made out in the article. When I was there, the Japanese would demonstrate about just about anything that came down the pike, almost like they just liked the demonstration, forget the reason.

There is still a lot of American envy in Japan, plus revisionist history. But the government is on our side.

Much more troubling are countries like France and Germany where the governments are involved.

[elmer fudd]

I think there's a world of difference between the two. Tojo's crimes were, from the Japanese standpoint, crimes against foreigners in a time of war. There may have been mass graves discovered after WW2, but they were in places like Nanking and the people in them weren't Japanese. Husseins crimes were primarily crimes against his own people. The mass graves are in Iraq and they contain Iraqis.

[ZChief]

My dad guarded Tojo as an MP during the occupation. He wasn't there, as far as I know, when they hung him.