The art of denial
Some days…
So, the Japanese prime minister, having first made an apology of sorts concerning earlier comments about the Japanese army not being responsible for the systematic and violent rape…
Right. Let’s start anew. So, during the second world war the Japanese army created and exploited brothels, where female prisoners, so-called comfort girls, were systematically raped for years - day after day, night after night - by the Japanese army, till the end of the war.
Japan has never fully acknowledged any of its many horrific and disgusting war crimes. It hasn’t paid compensation to the civilian and military prisoners it either tortured or worked to death. It has also not acknowledged, let alone apologized for, the mass murder of Chinese citizens during the war.
Thus, it will come as no surprise that, till this day, Japan has denied any responsibility (even of the army who built, ran and frequented these brothel prisons) for the rape of all these women. The only thing the Japanese prime minister repeated again (besides his assurance that neither Japan nor the army was to blame) was that he was sorry that the women had suffered during the war.
So… if it wasn’t Japan that did it, it must have been Elvis – or Bigfoot – or the Coca Cola company – or, yes, of course, those little green men from Mars again.
From the utterly revolting Japanese prime minister to that other prince of men: Tony Blair. He didn’t quite deliver a full governmental apology, to mark the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade but he did express regrets.
Dead slaves and dead Iraqis alike will appreciate the subtle differences between these two expressions of sentiment and will no doubt applaud the prime minister’s sensitivity.
Blair’s message of regret was somewhat overshadowed by the news that the British government has now proposed legislation that, in effect, reintroduces domestic slavery. Still, as even Jesus acknowledged: The poor will always be with us. So why not put them to work indeed?
It is nice that Western faint hearts abolished slavery by name – and the workers in sweat shops all over the world will be mightily pleased they don’t need to sing that they ain’t gonna pick no cotton no more – but slavery, like poverty, is still very much around.
Finishing on a lighter note: Britain’s Home Office should be thoroughly ashamed of itself, for refusing entry to the country to a poor, well-meaning artist, who only wants to spread around his message of peace and put an end to all street violence.
They didn’t even apologize for this - or, at the very least, expressed a politician’s empty regrets.
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