WWII - (weapons) A Japanese or American Right?

[†_Beast_†]

I think when it comes to weapons, even if your not Japanese - most people think of the Honjo Masamune. A sword that has now become popularized and mainstreamed into 'legend' due to history's events and the incorporation of weapons into such outlets as video games etc. in this day and age. I over heard some gentlemen talking about world war two recently and they were discussing how the Americans forced the Japanese to give any weapons up to be destroyed and in some cases taken (obviously it's no secret anyways...) and I'm not asking about anyone's views on the atomic bombs that were dropped in Japan either...that goes without saying I think...how history views that.

I'll get to the point before I give my own perspective on this, I'm curious what beings think about this even though it's been a few decades. Do you think Americans had the right to destroy Japanese weapons after WWII or not? What are your thoughts and why?

 

[Captain-Heather]

I think this was a tradition brought along from wars decades and centuries past. Look at any major war in the past and you will see that the victor required the conquered to give up their weapons. I think it is more symbolic than anything else. It's pretty demoralizing to have something that you use to defend yourself, your country, etc destroyed.

 

[†_Beast_†]

I think this was a tradition brought along from wars decades and centuries past. Look at any major war in the past and you will see that the victor required the conquered to give up their weapons. I think it is more symbolic than anything else. It's pretty demoralizing to have something that you use to defend yourself, your country, etc destroyed.

Good point. What about Japan specifically in terms of their centuries old tradition of samurai swords; relics in their minds being passed down from one generation to the next? Destroying weapons of warfare in order to gain peace/ensure they won't attack again is one thing - if not for a long time and have to rebuild etc. I think anyone can see the reasoning behind that but should it be morally right for one country to destroy ( in some cases take for themselves) ancient weapons that aren't used for combat anymore/have little practical use nowadays? (Obviously guns, high tech weapons etc. are the primary use for soldiers in most cases of combat warfare anymore) Samurai swords were used to honor their ancestors, worn as a symbol of strength and pride for their soldiers. Fact is, once you shift through all the ( ) ; those in charge of the military/their government realized they messed up but at that point in time - it was too late. They were labelled as 'works of art' after certain things came into realization. A pretty bad way to ‘cover up’ your own mistake by using that as acknowledgement if you ask me...lol. In my opinion, it's just one example of why you shouldn't destroy all things perceived as being 'weapons' after a war. Destroying someones culture and their heritage is wrong. Heck, let's look on the other end of the spectrum though - America didn't destroy Nazi technology (many things that should have been and were very questionable...) Instead...America recruited these Nazi scientists after WWII and gave them citizenship to stay in the country. I think it was done for good and bad reasons to be honest. Good reason - Russia (the impending Cold War was sure to come). Bad reason- frankly too many to list and I'm sure you can guess if your familiar with things the Nazi's were working on.

 

[Captain-Heather]

Good point. What about Japan specifically in terms of their centuries old tradition of samurai swords; relics in their minds being passed down from one generation to the next? Destroying weapons of warfare in order to gain peace/ensure they won't attack again is one thing - if not for a long time and have to rebuild etc. I think anyone can see the reasoning behind that but should it be morally right for one country to destroy ( in some cases take for themselves) ancient weapons that aren't used for combat anymore/have little practical use nowadays? (Obviously guns, high tech weapons etc. are the primary use for soldiers in most cases of combat warfare anymore) Samurai swords were used to honor their ancestors, worn as a symbol of strength and pride for their soldiers. Fact is, once you shift through all the ( ) ; those in charge of the military/their government realized they messed up but at that point in time - it was too late. They were labelled as 'works of art' after certain things came into realization. A pretty bad way to ‘cover up’ your own mistake by using that as acknowledgement if you ask me...lol. In my opinion, it's just one example of why you shouldn't destroy all things perceived as being 'weapons' after a war. Destroying someones culture and their heritage is wrong. Heck, let's look on the other end of the spectrum though - America didn't destroy Nazi technology (many things that should have been and were very questionable...) Instead...America recruited these Nazi scientists after WWII and gave them citizenship to stay in the country. I think it was done for good and bad reasons to be honest. Good reason - Russia (the impending Cold War was sure to come). Bad reason- frankly too many to list and I'm sure you can guess if your familiar with things the Nazi's were working on.

I am only familiar with what the Nazi's did thanks to Captain America

I think it's harder for us to understand the perspective that soldiers during WWII had when destroying the samurai swords. It was very personal to folks back then, the attack on Pearl Harbor especially, and so maybe they felt justified in destroying something that was important to the Japanese. Would I do that? No, but again, it's all about perspective. There will be a lot of things in our history that we (all humans, not just Americans) will look back on and think, what the heck were THEY thinking?? What seems like a completely crazy/irrational decision to us, who are removed from the situation by generations and decades, will have probably seemed like a smart/good/only choice to the people at the time making those decisions.

And I mean this in very general terms. I'm not trying to justify people like Hitler, who was completely wrong no matter how you look at it. Just trying to show the difference a bit of time makes in a situation.

 

[†_Beast_†]

I am only familiar with what the Nazi's did thanks to Captain America

Oh lord I do hope your being facetious about that with the wink and all...

(go look up project paperclip if you want to know more - files have been released on the net)


And.... you'd think the military felt satisfied enough due to the attack on pearl harbor by dropping atomic bombs in return for goodness sake ...right (talk about overkill ...lol sorry really shouldn't laugh at that but geez ...dude...little much I'd think...) . Not only that but all their tanks and other weapons were destroyed while they were invaded. I'm not justifying their attack on America in the first place by pointing this out - and it’s obvious we do have a very don't ( ) with us attitude in general since WWII with our overall military persona and nuclear capabilities. I will say that...lol. What the country needs to realize though is that sooner or later everything catches up - why it’s bad for us to use Nuclear weapons (goes without saying - for other reasons as well) - there will come a point where another country will say 'hey you used it on us, now it’s your turn'. - Heck it’s already happened as time and history has shown humanity....lol. That's something America is trying to prevent but it’s not something the country can really control in reality even if some people in our government like to believe so. The truth is this - Fear is the reason America goes into war, time and time again. Not a show of power or trying to be the 'world’s police' as that phase has been coined so many times. When you look at yourself as the 'top dog' on the worlds stage as our country does, you have nothing to gain but everything to lose.

 

[Captain-Heather]

Oh lord I do hope your being facetious about that with the wink and all...

(go look up project paperclip if you want to know more - files have been released on the net)


And.... you'd think the military felt satisfied enough due to the attack on pearl harbor by dropping atomic bombs in return for goodness sake ...right (talk about overkill ...lol sorry really shouldn't laugh at that but geez ...dude...little much I'd think...) . Not only that but all their tanks and other weapons were destroyed while they were invaded. I'm not justifying their attack on America in the first place by pointing this out - and it’s obvious we do have a very don't ( ) with us attitude in general since WWII with our overall military persona and nuclear capabilities. I will say that...lol. What the country needs to realize though is that sooner or later everything catches up - why it’s bad for us to use Nuclear weapons (goes without saying - for other reasons as well) - there will come a point where another country will say 'hey you used it on us, now it’s your turn'. - Heck it’s already happened as time and history has shown humanity....lol. That's something America is trying to prevent but it’s not something the country can really control in reality even if some people in our government like to believe so. The truth is this - Fear is the reason America goes into war, time and time again. Not a show of power or trying to be the 'world’s police' as that phase has been coined so many times. When you look at yourself as the 'top dog' on the worlds stage as our country does, you have nothing to gain but everything to lose.

Yes, I was making a joke about the Captain America thing...lol. Come to think of it, I think X-Men Days of Future Past makes a bit of reference to the scientists the US "adopted" after the war as well.

I am not sure fear is the reason America always goes into war. I think there are occasions, harking back to Pearl Harbor, where we were more pushed into it. America did not want to enter that war, while Europe really wanted to get us involved (they needed fresh men on the front). I think if we were afraid, we'd back off and let the people we feared do whatever they want. There are cases where fear prompts courage and thus I could see your point as fear being a cause for entering a war, but in most cases I don't see this with respect to America.

 

[†_Beast_†]

Yes, I was making a joke about the Captain America thing...lol. Come to think of it, I think X-Men Days of Future Past makes a bit of reference to the scientists the US "adopted" after the war as well.

I am not sure fear is the reason America always goes into war. I think there are occasions, harking back to Pearl Harbor, where we were more pushed into it. America did not want to enter that war, while Europe really wanted to get us involved (they needed fresh men on the front). I think if we were afraid, we'd back off and let the people we feared do whatever they want. There are cases where fear prompts courage and thus I could see your point as fear being a cause for entering a war, but in most cases I don't see this with respect to America.

Fear has many different shapes and forms within the human psyche - Fear doesn't necessarily mean you’re afraid of it. To fear something for losing something is one thing - to be afraid of something is another. In the case of the Pearl Harbor example - America did fear in that if they did not attack and show an absolute force of power (I.E. - the invasion and atomic weapons) that it would happen again. We had to prove something to the world at that time - for fear of how the world would view us on a global scale and being a super power. As for Europe during WWI and WW2, America didn't want to enter the war correct, until we had a reason to go into the war for the American public anyways - Congress allowing it etc. In this case - we did fear that if we didn't, we thought Nazi Germany may come overseas next, after conquering Europe and invade America (and for good reason we thought this). Of course this didn't happen because we got involved on the eastern front of war while Russia took care of business on their western front.

 

[RealSaltLakeFan]

The quote that describes this is "to the victor go the spoils." I believe the US took this phrase into account by taking the weapons intended for destruction, but some silently took them for personal pleasure.