IN DEFENSE OF INTERNMENT

Michelle Malkin.com ^ | August 03, 2004 | By Michelle Malkin

[aculeus]

The word is out about my new book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror. I've been keeping it under wraps over the past year as I quietly toiled away in the wee hours of the morning, but since Instapundit kindly mentioned receiving the book yesterday, I am delighted now to share a few more details with you.

The official launch is Monday, August 9. Please check my books page for more info (including documents, bibliography, resources, errata, etc.) and notices of upcoming appearances, speeches, and book signings. For those of you in the Seattle area, I shall return to the Pacific Northwest this Friday, Aug. 6, for a speech sponsored by my friends at KVI-AM. It's at 7 pm at Cedar Park Church in Bothell. More info is here. Hope you can make it.

My aim is to kick off a vigorous national debate on what has been one of the most undebatable subjects in Amerian history and law: President Franklin Roosevelt's homeland security policies that led to the evacuation and relocation of 112,000 ethnic Japanese on the West Coast, as well as the internment of tens of thousands of enemy aliens from Japan, Germany, Italy, and other Axis nations. I think it's vitally important to get the history right because the WWII experience is often invoked by opponents of common-sense national security profiling and other necessary homeland security measures today.

A few things compelled me to write the book. Ever since I questioned President Clinton's decision to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Japanese-American soldiers based primarly on claims of racial discrimination in 2000, several readers have urged me to research the topic of the "Japanese-American internment." World War II veterans wrote to say they agreed with my assessment of Clinton's naked politicization of the medals, but disagreed with my unequivocal statement that the internment of ethnic Japanese was "was abhorrent and wrong." They urged me to delve into the history and the intelligence leading to the decision before making up my mind.

I was further inspired by some intriguing blog debates last year between Sgt. Stryker and Is That Legal?. After reading a book by former National Security Agency official David Lowman called MAGIC: The untold story of U.S. Intelligence and the evacuation of Japanese residents from the West Coast during WWII, published posthumously by Athena Press Inc., I contacted publisher Lee Allen, who generously agreed to share many new sources and resources as I sought the truth.

The constant alarmism from Bush-bashers who argue that every counter-terror measure in America is tantamount to the internment was the final straw. The result is a book that I hope changes the way readers view both America's past and its present.

If you are a history buff, you will undoubtedly enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it. There are some incredible stories of untold courage and patriotism, as well as espionage and disloyalty, that have been buried in the mainstream WWII literature. If you are a parent with kids in high school, college, or law school, I hope you buy the book for your students or their teachers. And if you are simply an informed citizen, seeking answers about why we have failed to do what's necessary to combat our enemies on American soil (e.g., airport profiling, immigration enforcement, heightened scrutiny of Muslim chaplains and soldiers, etc.), I hope you buy the book to help gain intellectual ammunition and insights on our politically correct paralysis.

Liberal critics always ask if I've ever changed my mind about anything. Yes, I take back what I wrote in 2000; I have radically changed my mind about FDR's actions to protect the homeland. And I hope to persuade you all to do the same.

It's a daunting task, I know. This issue is fraught with emotion. Already, the first two reviews at Amazon.com have been posted--one on either side of the debate by individuals who have obviously not read a single page of the book. Another individual, who also admits she hasn't read the book, e-mailed the following to me today with the subject headline, "Shame on you:"

I have been a fan of yours since spotting you a while ago on FOX news…and I often agree with your views. I’m therefore appalled to read on Instapundit that you have published a book which endorses the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII...I’m shocked that you would use Michael Moore-ish “truth-telling” to make the case for the internment camps. My parents’ families were interned in the middle of the desert in Arizona, and it was far from the summer-camp-like experience your publisher describes on Amazon.com. You apparently note the many “amenities” in the camps---sounds almost like Moore’s depiction of pre-OIF days in Iraq. Geez, Louise. She compares me to Michael Moore without having read a single sentence of the actual book.

Neither has Eric Muller, who runs the blog Is That Legal? that I mentioned earlier. (He is also mentioned in my book on p. 352.) Yet, based on the book cover and publisher's description alone, he comments that they do "not inspire confidence that Ms. Malkin is going to be giving us history that is Fair and Balanced." He complains that the cover unfairly likened "a Japanese-American man to Mohammed Atta"--but he does so without bothering to find out who the man on the cover is. He is Richard Kotoshirodo, a Japanese-American man who by his own admission assisted the Honolulu-based spy ring that fed intelligence to Tokyo that was key to the design of the Pearl Harbor attack. Every scholar and student who writes about Roosevelt's decision to evacuate the West Coast should know his name and story.

I expect much more emotion-driven criticism like this in days and weeks to come. And I look forward to whatever substantive debate the other side can muster up.

All that said, the fact that the book is being published at all is what made all the hard work of the past year--and the harsh ad hominem attacks sure to come--worth it. Most publishers wouldn't touch this with a 100-foot pole, and I am grateful to Regnery Publishing for fully embracing my idea. Everything else is icing on the cake (though it would be nice to outsell fluffball Maureen Dowd).

So, stay tuned. I think we are in for a wild but very necessary and educational ride.

[cyborg]

I like her other writings but I strongly disagree with her on this point. She's welcome to her opinion but should expect dissenting commentary, as long as it's civilised.

[politicket]

You're scary...

This is supposed to be America. Can you not see the wrong that was done and admit as to it being wrong?

[cyborg]

Plus it was luck that Italians and Germans could change their names and fit in. Meanwhile, Japanese could not do that. Here on Long Island, Nazism was blatant and out in the open. In fact they are STILL there waaaaaaaay out east.

[politicket]

Alas, you are correct ;-) However, the principle remains...

[k2blader]

Malkin supports how innocent American citizens, who happened to be of Japanese ancestry, were interned?

[rang1995]

Given the situation at that time(41-42) and knowing that there were some Japaneese who spied in hawaii,and the general fear gripping america(depicted in the COMEDY 1941) it wasn't such a bad thing,although proven wrong later and the US was made to pay.But given todays environment ,the fear and IF, and i say IF another 9/11 or worse were to happen with inside help(muslims living here)i could see it happening again.And with good cause.hopefully people able to back up and proove who they are or their history would be let out,but say Muslims who travelled to mid-east frequently or attended radical mosques etc--off to camp..Remember this does not mean CONCENTRATION or WORK camp just internment,AC,TV,Cable etc

[Zippo44]

"But these were not "enemy aliens." AMERICAN CITIZENS were also rounded up and sent to the camps.

I disagree with your contention that they were somehow cutting themselves off from American society. Those that had been allowed to come over were prohibited from becoming citizens. They wanted to assimilate, but we didn't want them.

And explain to me how it is justified to seize the businesses and homes of any American citizens without compensation."

Ok, one at a time:
Yes, there were American citizens in the camps but by and large they were the children of the enemy aliens who had been interned. I for one would like to see a statistical breakdown of the interned persons; foreign national, naturalized citizen, natural born American, along with their repective ages at time of internment.

Hogwash, if they were legal residents of the US they could have made the effort to become naturalized citizens. But much like hispanics and others today, they refused to take the big bite and become full members of this society. They kept their ties to "the old country" and regarded themseves as "Japanese in America" not as Americans of Japanese descent.

I agree completely, the American government seizing private assets is unconscionable whether it was those of Japanese in 1942 or those of a putative drug dealer or drunk driver in 2004. However, the only anecdote cited above was a private sale to a doctor. I have seen no facts only an unsupported statement that the government seized property.

[k2blader]

Hope you don't mind the ping.

I recall seeing you have a Michelle Malkin list, and I'm interested in your opinions.

[backtothestreets]

This could be an interesting book.

[politicket]

Remember this does not mean CONCENTRATION or WORK camp just internment,AC,TV,Cable etc

Obviously you have never visited the remains of the internment camps. They were AWFUL! They only thing that I have seen that is worse is a Motel 6! (Just kidding ;-) )

Interning AMERICAN CITIZENS of Middle Eastern decent would be WRONG - PERIOD! We live in a country where freedom reigns! If we start having more terrorist attacks then the CITIZENS need to step up to the fight and kick their butts!

[skeeter]

Plus it was luck that Italians and Germans could change their names and fit in.

Germans and Italians composed 56% of those 'enemy aliens' interned during WWII.

However, only those of Japanese ethnicity were subject to relocation.

[k2blader]

Hope you don't mind this ping, too, as I've seen you on a couple threads like this before.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

[cyborg]

thanks

[steve-b]

He is Richard Kotoshirodo Gordon Kahl, a Japanese-American man religious radical who by his own admission assisted the Honolulu-based spy ring that fed intelligence to Tokyo that was key to the design of the Pearl Harbor attack murdered two US Federal Marshalls in cold blood. Every scholar and student who writes about Roosevelt's Bill Clinton's and Janet Reno's decision to evacuate the West Coast deal with the Waco compound should know his name and story.

Edited to a statement of exactly equal merit that would have (correctly) induced every FReeper to consign Malkin to the outer darkness of contempt.

[steve-b]

If the FBI had rounded up only the Japanese spies and sabateurs whom the broken codes revealed, the secret of the codes would have been revealed to the Japanese.

Any competent intelligence service would prevent that by creating the illusion that the information had been obtained through other channels (as the British did when exposing the Zimmerman Telegram, for instance).

This argument is thus worthless.

[Zippo44]

I do not think it was an unalloyed good, but on balance it was the best thing that could have happened given the circumstances. Would you have preferred to have innocent Japanese Americans hanging from lampposts? Feelings were running high and there was a very real possibility of massacres of Japanese Americans on the west coast in the early days of the war. Not to mention the inevitable cases of mistaken identity e.g. Chinese, Filipino, etc. Isolating the Japanese Americans and publicizing the fact not only protected them from atrocity, it also protected all Americans of Asian descent from the misplaced anger of aroused (and occasionally deranged Americans).

[steve-b]

So I would be most interested in reading what other intelligence versus prejudiced hysteria mongering supported Roosevelt's decision to relocate the Japanese population of the West Coast states.

It was simple greed. People with the right connections (up to and including Earl Warren himself, IIRC) were able to exploit the situation to steal the internees' property.

The only remaining question is whether Malkin is an idiot or a leftist mole deliberately setting off this political stink bomb to harm the conservative cause.

[Mat_Helm]

The internment was as much to protect the Japanese as it was to protect America. A good example is portrayed in the movie "Bad Day At Black Rock" with Spencer Tracey returning from the War to visit a Japanese war hero friends relative who he finds has been killed by the locals because of racism caused by the war.

[headsonpikes]

I'm not sure about the US situation, but in Canada, the internment of Japanese from the West Coast was a pre-emptive measure to prevent riots and lynchings.

It was also used as the legal cover to plunder the property of the Japanese fishermen and farmers in B.C.

History is complicated.

[politicket]

But much like hispanics and others today, they refused to take the big bite and become full members of this society.

Please....get your head out of the sand. Don't they teach history anymore?

The Japanese that came to this country wanted VERY MUCH to assimilate into this country and become citizens. They took great strides to learn the English language (instead of crying for Japanese in the schoolroom and the voter ballots). They were HUGE participants in the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) programs so that their sons could learn Western ways. The thing that kept them from assimilating faster were the racists in this country who didn't want them to own land, etc. (it was prohibited).

To question whether many Internees lost all of their possessions is laughable. Go back and look at the documents that were posted to those folks regarding their "relocation". They had just a matter of DAYS to get rid of all that they owned except for some clothes and small trinkets. The only exception to this were the few individuals who had trustworthy neighbors that agreed to watch over things while they were interned.