Swivel said:
The U.S. A-bomb and firebomb attacks on Japanese cities were war crimes by any rational standard and attacks on civilians.The Japanese were only weeks away from complete (if not unconditional) surrender anyhow.War crimes are committed by every nation and victors justice always hides the fact.....
If it were really the case that the Japanese were to surrender, I would agree with you. But it is not the case, and even after the bombing of Nagasaki, the military hierarchy wished to continue the war. Emperor Hirohito violated the Japanese constitution by weighing in on the side of surrender, an effort that did eventually end the war, but was arrested in an attempted coup. The coup was only thwarted when the tape made by Hirohito, admonishing the Japanese to "endure the unendurable" (the address never did mention the word "surrender") was not found.
During WWII, American troops did indeed commit crimes and atrocities, but these atrocities were not part of American policy. The Japanese atrocities against the Chinese, Philippine, and Korean citizens, not to mention against the Chinese, Philippine, Korean, U.S. and British POWs, were a part of official Japanese war policy. Japan was the only belligerent in all of WWII which had contained within their military code of conduct, rules concerning which prisoners could be eaten.
That being said, I did not realize that Japan has been using the WWII Naval Ensign as its flag for the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. As that is the case, I think the use of the Naval Ensign would be appropriate as it is the flag of a peaceful Japan.
Here is the WWII Naval Ensign and current flag of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force.
I think this flag is OK as it is being used by a peaceful Japan.
Here is the War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army.
This flag was in use by the aggressive forces of Imperial Japan from 1870-1945 and thus I think its use would be disrespectful of the hundreds of thousands of victims of the Imperial Japanese.
One last note: Thank you to all who have put in their opinions in a respectful and civil manner. Discussions such as this are often quite heated, and it is a pleasure to have them in such a respectful manner!
Shiny Side Up!
Bill