Gun Control & RKBA
In reply to the discussion: Probably the best 2nd Amendment speech ever. [View all]jimmy the one
(2,708 posts)johnston: Trying to give it {japanese internment wwII} legitimacy by comparing it to the equally disgusting "Bush Doctrine" is beyond sicking and despicable.
I wasn't trying thereby to give the camps legitimacy, I said it could be likened to bush doctrine which I agree was a problem - I opposed gwbush's iraq war & am on record against it.
PS: What is your opinion of the hiro-naga bombings? justified or despicable? for the record.
While New York rounded up German and Italian Americans, was there a national effort in either country?
You'd needed have rounded up a quarter of americans, with german blood to some degree. German Navy was considered inadequate for large scale invasion (due british navy) & Italian navy similar & inferior as well to american east coast fleet. The IJN otoh, ruled the pacific for half a year - & only by a small miracle was it confined to only half a year.
In retrospect it's easy to condemn the internment of japanese americans in wwII, I don't argue that it was 'right' to do it, I just note the thought processes which lead up to it in the mid 20th century; & note also that subsequent treatment wasn't as bad as retrospective pejorative transmogrification of the camps, either. Here is a military opinion:
military reasons leading to the internment camps: The US is very poorly armed at the start of WWII, so men and equipment are in extremely short supply. The main battleships that were crucial to the defense of the west coast are at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.. The US has 5 carriers surviving in the Pacific, but the Japanese fleet has 10 carriers, and plenty of other ships, some of which can outgun any American battleship anywhere. The American military has a track record of nothing but humiliation and defeat in the Philippines, Pearl Harbor, and elsewhere. The Japanese military has an excellent track record of victory after victory, against the US..
.. it is ridiculous to assert that none of those 120,000 ethnic Japanese, 50,000 of them Japanese nationals, would have aided the Japanese through acts of espionage and sabotage if the Japanese govt had asked them to (like al qaeda encouraging terrorism/jihad in US).. refusal of such an order by a Japanese national would probably have been seen as an act of treason by Japanese law. (He then estimates 100 perhaps doing sabatoge of american installations).
.. the constitution allowed for people being locked up without due process in wartime. Article I, section 9 says... The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. ... Note that at the time of internment, the US territories of Guam and the Philippines, along with other islands, had been successfully invaded and their people much abused, the attempted invasion of Hawaii at Midway was imminent, and the possible invasion of California was much feared, justifiably or not. http://www.ww2pacific.com/relocation.html