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Posted July 26, 2001
Nuclear
Threats
I would like some information concerning nuclear threats and use of
nuclear weapons between 1985-1999 around the world. Could you help me
with this...? It is for a book that I have written and [I] wish to verify
some of these facts.
~ S. Kovachevich
Eric Garris replies:
The
best source I know of is the Federation
of American Scientists. Their website has a very complete
breakdown of this information.
Macedonian Websites
...I
find Antiwar.com extremely informative and ... well designed.... Please
continue to publish the "real" stories as opposed to those aired by
the other media.
I am contacting you with a request. I have followed the Macedonian crisis with great interest. I would also like to access any websites originating from Macedonia that address this crisis. If anyone at Antiwar.com could provide me with the names of Macedonian organizations or website URL's I would be very appreciative.
~ C. Smith
The "Backtalk" editor replies:
You can find a several Macedonian news sites in our Sources section – under "Balkan News Sources."
Newspaper Article Dissected
That SFGate article ["Right Wing Rising" by Reese Erlich] linked to [Justin Raimondo's column, "The Rape of Japan"] pissed me off.... Allow me to respond to some of the points made in the article:
"Right-wingers are finding an increasingly younger audience by expressing their views in book- length comic books, motion pictures and even musical lyrics sung by punk rockers with orange hair."
This makes the "phenomenon" sound new. Yoshinori Kobayashi's comics, for example, have been around for over 10 years.
"Many are turning to Yoshinori Kobayashi's cartoon books, which have rocketed to the top of the bestseller charts by glorifying Japan's role in World War II."
This is false. I have read all of Yoshinori Kobayashi's (known as "Yoshirin" by his fans) books. Yoshirin specifically opposes a return to militarism, but he does favor "self-respect."
"Kobayashi, 47, has a huge following among Japanese youth and has appeared on prominent talk shows to hawk his latest works. On Taiwan, for example, says Taiwanese women volunteered to become sexual servants (the so-called 'comfort women') of Japanese soldiers for financial gain and social advancement."
That is also false. Yoshirin does however (mistakenly, I believe) think that the Taiwanese benefited from the occupation, and that they have a more friendly attitude toward Japan today than Korea does.
"Punk singer Karin Amamiya widely admires Kobayashi's philosophy of Gomanism, which roughly translates as being politically provocative. 'For me, Gomanism is the bible,' said Amamiya. 'I see the value in being obnoxious and playing the devil's advocate.'"
That is not what Gomanism means. "Gouman" means "haughtiness, arrogance, and overweening pride." Emphasis here is most appropriately on the word "pride."
"In May, Toho Pictures released a movie called Merdeka ('Independence' in Indonesian) that critics say falsely suggests Japan helped liberate Indonesia from Dutch colonizers after World War II."
This is true. Read the memoirs of Sukarno.
"And a film that lionizes the mastermind of Japan's invasion of Asia -- convicted war criminal Hideki Tojo -- was one of the biggest box office draws of last year."
Tojo also masterminded Japan's defeat over the Russian navy in the Russo-Japanese war. He invented the strategy, now called "crossing the T," that resulted in a complete rout of the Russians. He is a major figure in Japanese history, and is deserving of a film about his life.
"And the Ministry of Education has approved nationalist interpretations in the new textbook. Consider:"
I have read the new textbook cover to cover. Fire away.
"-- The text makes no reference to comfort women, a subject that appeared in previous middle-school texts."
True.
"-- Japan's colonization of Korea is justified 'as necessary for Japanese security.'"
Every attempted invasion of Japan was launched from Korea. The topic is presented more as an explanation than an excuse.
"-- The scale of the Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese soldiers raped, tortured and murdered more than 300,000 Chinese civilians during a six-week period in 1937-38, is downplayed."
Meaning it's not a chapter heading? It is mentioned in the book at least once.
"-- Japan's World War II victories are said to have 'fostered dreams of independence among many people in Southeast Asia and India.'"
True. Read the memoirs of Sukarno, and most importantly of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru personally saw Dutch begging and scraping in front of Japanese commanders after the occupation of Indonesia. He says that after this experience he personally no longer feared the British or thought of them as invincible.
~ Clancy Dalebout