Posted on 12/10/2001 9:08:50 PM PST by ouroboros
Of course I could be wrong.
Japan is not disarmed. The SDF is probably the most modern armed forces in all of East Asia. While they may be numerically inferior to the PRC, according to Jane's, Japan is slated to spend over US$200 billion on defense in the next five years. By comparison, China spends around US$20 billion a year, though perhaps more "under the table."
Ain't hindsight wonderful? Pat's rhetoric is always catchy, with his new phrase the "War Party" emerging as his latest hook. If he was as good at REAL politics, as he is at writing, he himself could sit in the seats of power.
For the sake of accuracy, it looks like the Bush administration will press Iraq to honor the 1991 Cease Fire terms, and allow WMD inspectors to again do their jobs. Would Pat Buchanan have the world just let Saddam continue with WMD, until he uses them?
"To understand why Japan lashed out, we must go back to World War I. Japan had been our ally. But when she tried to collect her share of the booty at Versailles, she ran into an obdurate Woodrow Wilson. Wilson rejected Japan's claim to German concessions in Shantung, home of Confucius, which Japan had captured at a price in blood... By appeasing the Americans, the British enraged and alienated a proud nation that had been a loyal friend."
To paraphrase, Japan won land by right of conquest, and Britain honored that right of its loyal ally. But this offended delicate American sensibilities, and so we pressured Britain to sever its relationship with Japan, then pressured (and ultimately went to war with) Japan in order to reverse that conquest. This was a mistake and led to all kinds of grief, since Japan had in fact been acting as a pro-Western counter to the virulent anti-Western forces in the region.
Now, compare that to the situation in Israel: Israel won land by right of conquest, and the U.S. has honored that right of its loyal ally. But this offends delicate European sensibilities, and so the EU is pressuring us to sever our relationship with Israel. Clearly Buchanan believes that this will lead to a war between the EU and Israel, a war which he belives will be a mistake and lead to all kinds of grief, since Israel is in fact acting as a pro-Western counter to the virulent anti-Western forces in the region. So the moral of the story is that we should continue to back Israel, no matter how much our allies across the Atlantic pressure us to do otherwise.
It's obvious, really. I'm just surprised to see Buchanan make such an about-face from his usual position on the Middle East.
Sage analysis and more importantly, a thought-provoking condemnation of the pro-Communist leanings of FDR!
Otherwise, not a shabby analysis.
Wilson rejected Japan's claim to German concessions in Shantung, home of Confucius, which Japan had captured at a price in blood.
Pardon my French, but Pat Buchanan is now just about the world's most insufferable dumbass. The above is impossibly stupid, umless Buchanan is channeling the ghost of Tojo.
Let's review:
British WW I dead: 908,371 wounded: 2,090,212
US WW I dead: 50,585 wounded: 205,690
JAPANESE WW I dead: 300 wounded: 907
"Price in blood" my ass, Pat. Yeah, the Japanese really suffered as our WW I ally.
And the US took NO territory from ANYONE, mind you, in WW I.
But the Japanese, at the cost of 300 dead, took from Germany, the Marshall, Mariana, Palau, and Caroline Islands, covering an immense area. In terms of surface area of the globe, I suspect the Japanese got control of MORE area than anyone else in WWI.
The US spent most of the Pacific War in bloody fighting to capture heavily fortified Islands the Japanese took from Germany in WW I....Tarawa, Pelileu, etc.
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