German Holocaust Reparations

World War II ended sixty-six years ago, but Germany is still paying reparations to Israel for the Holocaust. According to Strategy Page, Israel's purchase of German Dolphin-class submarines has been subsidized by Germany as part of ongoing Holocaust reparations.

Germany has agreed to pay 20 percent of the cost of a sixth Dolphin class submarine for Israel, which was ordered earlier this year. Two more are under construction, and will arrive in the next two years. ... The first two Dolphins were paid for by Germany, as was most of the cost of the third one. This is more of German reparations for World War II atrocities against Jews.

It's interesting that Holocaust reparations are helping pay for a key strategic force that helps ensure that Israel will not suffer a new holocaust.

The Israelis have developed a cruise missile, which is has a range of 1,500 kilometers and carries a 200 kiloton nuclear warhead. The objective of deploying nukes on subs is to further enhance deterrence to any nation launching a nuclear strike against Israel.

How long will Germany continue paying Holocaust reparations? According to an Israeli source the 2011 German budget for reparations is 110 million euros, to be used to compensate the estimated 520,000 survivors still alive worldwide. But the new submarine cost $650 million, twenty percent of which is 130 million.

I'm a big supporter of Israel, and it's nice that they can get the Germans to subsidize submarine purchases. If I were a German, however, I'd be pretty annoyed at this whole arrangement.They're already paying 110 million euros to survivors.

The Truman Center for Nuclear Peace

The U.S. attended the 65th anniversary ceremonies commemorating the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. It's memorable because the U.S. has never attended before, and because the Obama administration managed to resist what was probably an urge to apologize for taking a justifiable wartime action.

In other news, a private American group announced that they have purchased land, and plan to build a 15 story community center two blocks from ground zero in Hiroshima. The structure will be called the Truman Center for Nuclear Peace. The promoters hope to spread their message that nuclear weapons not only brought an end to the Pacific War, but kept the peace throughout the Cold War. Their organization stresses the peaceful purpose of nuclear weapons, and the developers believe this new center will help create greater understanding between Japanese and Americans on the issue of nuclear weapons. Initial reports show strong Japanese opposition to such a project, with many labeling it the Ground Zero Bomb Center.

Although recent polls show that more than 50% strongly oppose the Truman Center for Nuclear Peace, it has achieved remarkable support from local politicians and political pundits, particularly on the left. They point out that the center isn't about the bombing, but about peace, and that it isn't actually on ground zero -- it's a whole two blocks away. They derisively dismiss any and all opposition as ignorant anti-American bigotry. But opposition continues to grow.



For the clueless... everything but the first paragraph is satire.

Skeletons in the Closet

In a bizarre story, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that UC Berkeley is holding Japanese skulls and other bones from World War Two, and has used them in osteology research. They were taken from Saipan by a U.S. Navy Lt. Commander, who kept them in a private collection until 1974. At that time they were donated to the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology at the university.

Apparently this story has just come to light, and so far there has been no comment from the Japanese government. But I assume they won't be too happy and will demand that the remains be returned. If a museum at a Japanese university was found to be holding skulls and bones of American citizens removed from Corregidor after its surrender in 1942, there would probably be a big outcry.

Personal Leadership at D-Day

In honor of the D-Day anniversary, I thought I would take note of the actions of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of President Teddy Roosevelt, and cousin of FDR. Roosevelt was assistant commander of the 4th Infantry division, which made the assault landing at Utah beach. Over the protests of his superior, who felt that he wouldn't survive, he insisted on landing with the first wave, the only general to do so. His actions resulted in one of the four medals of honor awarded for that day of June 6, 1944. Here is his citation. Like many medals of honor, his was posthumous. He survived the landing, but died of a heart attack July 12, before the medal was awarded.

for gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, in France. After 2 verbal requests to accompany the leading assault elements in the Normandy invasion had been denied, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt's written request for this mission was approved and he landed with the first wave of the forces assaulting the enemy-held beaches. He repeatedly led groups from the beach, over the seawall and established them inland. His valor, courage, and presence in the very front of the attack and his complete unconcern at being under heavy fire inspired the troops to heights of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice. Although the enemy had the beach under constant direct fire, Brig. Gen. Roosevelt moved from one locality to another, rallying men around him, directed and personally led them against the enemy. Under his seasoned, precise, calm, and unfaltering leadership, assault troops reduced beach strong points and rapidly moved inland with minimum casualties. He thus contributed substantially to the successful establishment of the beachhead in France.

More information about Roosevelt can be found here.

More Apologies

This time from Japan. The Japanese ambassador to the U.S. apologized for the treatment of prisoners of war taken when they captured the Philippines during World War Two.

"We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan peninsula the Corregidor Island, Philippines and other places,"

He was speaking to 73 survivors of the Bataan Death March. Maybe the veterans appreciated it, but I find these types of apologies for past events completely pointless. The current government of Japan bears little relation to the Imperial Japan of World War Two. Such apologies are unnecessary and meaningless.

In Honor of Memorial Day

Below is the Medal of Honor citation for First Lieutenant John J. Tominac, won during WW2 action in France. I've read many of the MOH citations from our various wars,and among numerous amazing feats of courage, this one is my particular favorite. If most people saw Lt. Tominac's actions portrayed in a movie, they'd think it was a wildly unrealistic Hollywood production, and couldn't possibly be true. Who jumps onto a burning abandoned tank rolling downhill, and effectively uses a machinegun to force the enemy -- including an armored vehicle -- to withdraw, and then jumps off before the tank blows up? Lt. Tominac, that's who. And that's only one part of the citation. 

in an attack on Saulx de Vesoul, France 1st Lt. Tominac charged alone over 50 yards of exposed terrain onto an enemy roadblock to dispatch a 3-man crew of German machine gunners with a single burst from his Thompson machinegun after smashing the enemy outpost, he led 1 of his squads in the annihilation of a second hostile group defended by mortar, machinegun automatic pistol, rifle and grenade fire, killing about 30 of the enemy. Reaching the suburbs of the town, he advanced 50 yards ahead of his men to reconnoiter a third enemy position which commanded the road with a 77-mm. SP gun supported by infantry elements. The SP gun opened fire on his supporting tank, setting it afire with a direct hit. A fragment from the same shell painfully wounded 1st Lt. Tominac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. As the crew abandoned the M-4 tank, which was rolling down hill toward the enemy, 1st Lt. Tominac picked himself up and jumped onto the hull of the burning vehicle. Despite withering enemy machinegun, mortar, pistol, and sniper fire, which was ricocheting off the hull and turret of the M-4, 1st Lt. Tominac climbed to the turret and gripped the 50-caliber antiaircraft machinegun. Plainly silhouetted against the sky, painfully wounded, and with the tank burning beneath his feet, he directed bursts of machinegun fire on the roadblock, the SP gun, and the supporting German infantrymen, and forced the enemy to withdraw from his prepared position. Jumping off the tank before it exploded, 1st Lt. Tominac refused evacuation despite his painful wound. Calling upon a sergeant to extract the shell fragments from his shoulder with a pocketknife, he continued to direct the assault, led his squad in a hand grenade attack against a fortified position occupied by 32 of the enemy armed with machineguns, machine pistols, and rifles, and compelled them to surrender. His outstanding heroism and exemplary leadership resulted in the destruction of 4 successive enemy defensive positions, surrender of a vital sector of the city Saulx de Vesoul, and the death or capture of at least 60 of the enemy.

Unlike many Medal of Honor winners, John Tominac not only survived that particular action, but he survived the war. He remained in the army and went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam, retiring as a full colonel. He died in 1998, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Peacetime Differs from Wartime

That's obvious, right? You might think so, but apparently most of the people screaming and  howling about torture don't understand that or choose to ignore it. That's why people have to keep restating the obvious, over and over. The latest effort comes from the Wall Street Journal, which uses General Curtis LeMay's air offensive against Japan as an example of how thinking changes in wartime. Here are some key points.  

On Sept. 12, 2001, it is highly doubtful that any member of Congress was worried that our government would be too harsh in its treatment of terrorists.

This bears repeating. It is now fashionable, especially on the left, to minimize 9/11, downplay the threat of terrorism, and pretend that the U.S. grossly overreacted. But very few people saw it that way right after 9/11. What they saw was a devastating attack out of the blue that killed three thousand people in our greatest city, shut down the U.S. air transport system, and disrupted our economy. Many people worried about more attacks. And that worry wasn't just based on blind panic, it was completely understandable and reasonable.

In peacetime, a country can deliberate the balance of its security and civil liberties. It can even apologize for actions that were clearly wrong. When a nation is in peril, however, a forceful defense takes priority.

Again this should be obvious. The government, including both parties, was focused on defending the U.S. after 9/11. The silly notion that imaginary terrorist rights should take precedence over U.S. security would have been laughable immediately following the terror attack.

The author also points out the the definition of "war crimes" is highly flexible. It is so flexible in fact, that it really has very little meaning.  When you look at things the U.S. has done in the past, the idea that torturing a known terrorist was somehow a war crime becomes even more ridiculous than it is on its face.

Following Pearl Harbor, this country asked its military leaders to commit acts that, when taken out of context, can be viewed as war crimes today. Between March and August of 1945, 38-year-old Gen. Curtis LeMay ordered the deaths of more civilians than any other man in U.S. history

People will no doubt say, well that was different, that was total war. But as I have pointed out repeatedly, even now the U.S. is carrying out an assassination by drone campaign in Pakistan. Our campaign kills mostly civilians and has all sorts of negative repercussions. But we do it because we think it is necessary, just as we tortured some terrorists because we thought it was necessary.  But there's one thing we don't do. We don't prosecute past administrations for national security decisions they made during wartime.

Japanese Emperor to Visit Pearl Harbor?

Japan Times reports that the Emperor & Empress of Japan will visit Pearl Harbor on their return from a trip to Canada this summer. According to the article, no prime minister of Japan, let alone the head of state, has been to Pearl Harbor since World War Two. I find that surprising, given the amount of time that has passed, and the close relations between the U.S. and Japan. Even now

the Emperor and Empress will unofficially stop over in Hawaii. They will primarily interact with local Japanese-American groups and visit Pearl Harbor during a break

It sounds like they are trying to keep it as low profile as possible. I'm not exactly sure why. No U.S. president has ever visited Hiroshima either.