Hi all, and sorry to rant and rave about this, but I reckon more people read your blog than mine Evey so I figgered I'd throw it up here as well. I wish Blogger would stop munging 'pre' HTML commands but what can you do. I basically stayed up until 2 am in the morning last night poring over a couple of 'revisionist' history books to reply to a post I read on Slashdot ... but because I posted anonymously it wasn't rated very highly. Ironically someone commented on my post, and his (derisive) comment is there, but mine's still 'beneath the radar' ... mmm Underworld.

The article on /. that I was whinging about was about a geek's exploits in the US air force when they were bombin' Tojo back to the Stone Age ... I was just sick of seeing the lie (about the US only participating in WWII 'cause of that sneaky attack in Hawaii) perpetrated. Asbestos suit on.

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I trust that not all American ex-servicemen still believe:

"After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 brought the US into World War II, (...)"

or rather, if they do, then I hope that other Americans can look beyond this myth. You have to go back another hundred years to find the first angry shot fired between the two nations, but more about that later.

The recent release of "'Pearl Harbour' as approved by the US Military"alienated many non-US viewers. (Even the Limeys hated it!) In the aftermath, media outlets reported on the relationship between Hollywood and the military.

Even John Wayne knew Uncle Sam had played a few hands before December - remember his performance in
Flying Tigers?

The following is from p. 93 of "Higher than Heaven: Japan, war, and everything", by Barrel & Tanaka (1995 Private Guy International):

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Up the Tigers

The Flying Tigers started arriving in China in mid-1938 and took part in the battle of Hankow. They were strictly mercenaries paid by results: a monthly wage of $US600 and a bonus of $US500 every time they downed a Japanese plane. Even though the USA wasn't fighting Japan yet, in April 1941 President Roosevelt signed an order which allowed regular US servicemen to resign and join the Tigers. The P-40 Tomahawks were dubbed 'Tigers' by the media, because they each had a double row of shark's teeth painted on their nose.

(Former aerial circus star Lt.Col. Claire) Chennault's first serious deployment was in the battle for Burma where he devised a special 'tag' technique to allow the somewhat obsolete planes to fly in pairs and protect each other while dealing with the faster Japanese aircraft. In 1942 the Tigers grew to become the USAAF's Fourteenth Air Force.

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SVG veterans themselves proudly declare their involvement, and ten years ago the US Government recognised them as having been on "active duty" from December 1941 to July 1942, and as a result were eligible for veterans' benefits.

Now go back a hundred years to July 1853 to find the US Navy and Commodore Perry, with full 'discretionary powers' from President Fillmore, anchoring his 'black ships' (or 'Kuro fune', a term coined for fear of any threat from outside) for a few days in Tokyo Bay, then marching 300 armed sailors ashore to drive the point home.

What did the US want? To open shipping routes, and for whalers and other merchant vessels to stop and refuel. Ironically, it was American whale hunters who developed the local Japanese appetite for whales into a national taste - now defended as an ancient cultural rite that can't be disturbed.

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Perry's Pacific ideas and adventures were savoured with enthusiasm by American admirals and generals. The Japanese also remembered Perry's offensive attitude. Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku described his attach on Hawaii's Pearl Harbour in December 1941 as the 'return of Perry's visit'. When the Japanese signed the surrender on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the US flag that was displayed was the one that flapped on the stern of Perry's steam frigate the USS Mississippi.

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(viz., p37)

Some good examples here of the adage 'you reap what you sow'. I wonder what the two seeds that were sown in August 1945 could grow into, with the proper attention.

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A GIANT FUCKING RADIOACTIVE LEVIATHAN WITH ONLY ONE THOUGHT - EAT THE USA. (^_^) Ohh, Kawaii! Gojira!