| Submit your comments on this article |
| Home Front: Politix |
| Dems Offer Reparations to Guam For Japanese War Crimes |
| 2007-05-08 |
| H/t to the one and only Michelle Malkin. Joe M., I'd very much appreciate a little local commentary on this. Dems Offer Reparations to Guam For Japanese War Crimes That's correct... Democrats are bringing legislation to the floor this week to pay Guam citizens for the crimes committed against them by members of the Imperial Japanese military forces during World War II! H. R. 1595 -To implement the recommendations of the Guam War Claims Review Commission. SEC. 2. RECOGNITION OF THE SUFFERING AND LOYALTY OF THE RESIDENTS OF GUAM. (a) Recognition of the Suffering of the Residents of Guam- The United States recognizes that, as described by the Guam War Claims Review Commission, the residents of Guam, on account of their United States nationality, suffered unspeakable harm as a result of the occupation of Guam by Imperial Japanese military forces during World War II, by being subjected to death, rape, severe personal injury, personal injury, forced labor, forced march, or internment. (b) Recognition of the Loyalty of the Residents of Guam- The United States forever will be grateful to the residents of Guam for their steadfast loyalty to the United States of America, as demonstrated by the countless acts of courage they performed despite the threat of death or great bodily harm they faced at the hands of the Imperial Japanese military forces that occupied Guam during World War II. SEC. 3. PAYMENTS FOR GUAM WORLD WAR II CLAIMS. (a) Payments for Death, Personal Injury, Forced Labor, Forced March, and Internment- Subject to section 5, after receipt of certification pursuant to section 4(b)(8) and in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall make payments as follows: (1) RESIDENTS INJURED- The Secretary shall pay compensable Guam victims who are not deceased before any payments are made to individuals described in paragraphs (2) and (3) as follows: (A) If the victim has suffered an injury described in subsection (c)(2)(A), $15,000. (B) If the victim is not described in subparagraph (A) but has suffered an injury described in subsection (c)(2)(B), $12,000. (C) If the victim is not described in subparagraph (A) or (B) but has suffered an injury described in subsection (c)(2)(C), $10,000. (2) SURVIVORS OF RESIDENTS WHO DIED IN WAR- In the case of a compensable Guam decedent, the Secretary shall pay $25,000 for distribution to eligible survivors of the decedent as specified in subsection (b). The Secretary shall make payments under this paragraph after payments are made under paragraph (1) and before payments are made under paragraph (3). (3) SURVIVORS OF DECEASED INJURED RESIDENTS- In the case of a compensable Guam victim who is deceased, the Secretary shall pay $7,000 for distribution to eligible survivors of the victim as specified in subsection (b). The Secretary shall make payments under this paragraph after payments are made under paragraphs (1) and (2). This could be the first time in recorded history that a government has seriously considered paying reparations for another country's war crimes... Unreal! Who's next? Korea? The Philippines? China? RedState thinks it's Carthage. RedState lists all of the Americans who gave their lives to free Guam from the Japanese. Mike |
| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #18 My paternal grandfather was a US Navy veteran and retiree, and post-retirement Naval Govt of Guam employee and farmer, whose USN experience and work skills caused him to be put into extensive forced labor wid other USN-USMC personnel-employees-retirees by the Japanese after the fall of Guam. He died in 1944 ["Year the Americans came/came back"] due to serious health complications induced by said extensive forced labor. Many other locals were also put to forced labor - while some Japanese soldiers were "fair", others were abusive and slapped people around if something went wrong. My own elderly mother claims that as a child = pre-teen during the war, she was slapped or punched around iff she + others failed to properly learn the Japanese language and related subjects, which all Chamorros-Guamanians were then ordered to learn ["re-education"]; or iff she was physically unable to report = march to Japanese-mandated work activities for any reason. She also claims one of her family's relations was publicly beheaded by the Japanese although she's not sure why. When it appeared in 1944 that Amer military forces were likely to attack Japanese-held Guam, many of the local men and boys whom had helped construct Japanese military defenses were marched off into the jungle and executed, i.e. beheaded or shot to death. E.g. YIGO MASSACRE > textbooks usually indicate up to 40 people were secretly executed after building Japanese defenses, but post-Battle/War US military records HINT/INFER a number in either 100-few 00? bodies were found by advancing US units. Some locals' ancestors whom "disappeared" during the war = US liberation of Guam have still never been found. BONE OF DIPLO-LEGAL CONTENTION FOR THE PEOPLE OF GUAM vs JAPAN vs USA > Many Guam WW2 local survivors or thier heirs desire or want JAPAN to pay formal war reparations - however, POST-1945 US-SOVIET COLD WAR > Japan claims it was FOREVER precluded from paying war reparations due to post-WW2 agreements wid the USA, to include any litigations to collect same, or even from admitting any sort of war crimes-abuses by imperial Japanese forces. Basically, what it comes to is that for Guam WW2 survivors or their heirs to legally-formally collect any form of compensation for Japanese war atrocities or abuses on Guam, the only way to get it is for JAPAN TO SINGULARLY VOLUNTEER TO PAY, WHICH JAPAN = TOKYO HAS MADE CLEAR OVER THE MANY POST-WAR DECADES IT WILL NOT DO; OR TO COLLECT FROM WASHINGTON DC BY AND FOR AND IN PLACE OF JAPAN EVEN THOUGH IT WAS JAPANESE FORCES THAT COMMITTED THE ACTS, and since Japan likes to claim it is its post-war treaties wid the USA that precludes Japan from making any kind of $$$ reparations. FYI, JAPAN USES THE SAME RATIONALE-PREMISES, AMONGST OTHERS, AS TO THE "ASIAN COMFORT WOMEN" ISSUE, i.e. WHY JAPAN DOESN'T NEED TO APOLOGIZE NOR COMPENSATE. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2007-05-08 23:47 |
| #17 Free money for EVERYONE!! (Put it on the taxpayers tab) |
| Posted by: Congress 2007-05-08 21:11 |
| #16 We've already paid reparations to Filipinos and citizens of Micronesia. The agreement to exempt Japan from financial penalties seemed like a good idea at the time, given the Korean War and the necessity of keeping Japan economicly healthy. Many people looked back at the harm that reparations did to post WW I Germany. It's tough to look back 60 years and not have hindsight. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2007-05-08 16:51 |
| #15 After reading my comment it sounds a bit flippant. I didn't intend to demean the suffering of all who were under the Japanese boot heel. Reparations, though, have a way of snowballing. This needs to be nipped in the bud. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-05-08 16:43 |
| #14 After Guam, the Philippines, which was an American possession at the time of the Japanese invasion and occupation. The crimes were very real. Something the Hiroshima apologists seem to ignore. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-05-08 16:20 |
| #13 My Great-great-great-grandfather's house was burned by Union soldiers in April of 1865. He was a planter who had been given a medical discharge from the $th Alabama Infantry due to his age, he was 46. Do I get reparations for a U.S. warcrime? |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-05-08 16:08 |
| #12 Bunker Hill was five miles from the house I grew up in. I still have the nightmares. At least that's my story... Have them send me my paperwork. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-05-08 14:46 |
| #11 Ex, actually it was Bush's fault. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-05-08 13:59 |
| #10 They forgot to blame FDR for provoking the legitimate imperial Minute Men government of the peace-loving co-prosperity sphere into justifiable acts of self-defense (assuming Pearl Harbor was not an inside job or carried out by time-traveling Israelis). |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-05-08 11:57 |
| #9 Truman signed an agreement with Japan in '51. Basically says Japan is not responsible for "individual American war claims". Guam is American territory so we pay for whta they did. Neat huh? http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/15/news/guam.php |
| Posted by: Strom Thurmond 2007-05-08 11:20 |
| #8 Huh?... |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-05-08 10:45 |
| #7 I am in favor of aiding those Guamanian families that underminded the Japanese during their occupation but how about the Japs forking over some yen for this noble project. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-05-08 10:30 |
| #6 I fear you are right ZF, and if it's after 2008 and there's a donk in the White House, look out. |
| Posted by: Spot 2007-05-08 10:26 |
| #5 sinse: why isn't anyone wondering why we are gonna have too pay for what japanese soldiers did. hell let the japs pay them I gotta figure that this is the Dems winding up for a slavery reparations bill. Mark my words - it's coming down the pike. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-05-08 09:51 |
| #4 why isn't anyone wondering why we are gonna have too pay for what japanese soldiers did. hell let the japs pay them |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-05-08 09:39 |
| #3 Any word from Joe? He's over there isn't he? I wonder if the Guam people even want this? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-05-08 09:09 |
| #2 Like slavery, the price was paid in the blood of our fathers, brothers, and sons, to end it. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-05-08 08:55 |
| #1 Joe? Have a claim through your grandparents? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-05-08 08:55 |