Destroy Quotes



Umezu was one of several members of the Japanese War Council, that did not want to surrender even after the second atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki. He and the other hard liners were convinced that the Japanese could inflict such heavy casualties on an invading force of the mainland that the Allies would not insist on unconditional surrender and Japan could negotiate favorable terms. These hard liners had already lived through the firebombing of Tokyo which in casualties was as bad as the atom bomb attacks, and felt that they could maintain a defensive force even if all the major cities of Japan were destroyed. Fortunately for all parties, the Emperor overruled Umezu and the hardliners. Umezu and the other hard liners had personal reasons to want to negotiate terms. They had committed war crimes and did not want to be brought to account. He was tried after the surrender and sentenced to life in prison where he died of cancer after 4 years.


none of a prosecutorial nature At the end of World War II, a major issue was whether to try the Japanese Emperor as a War Criminal. He had been the Commander and Chief of the Japanese Armed Forces, personally appointed virtually every military of civilian official of consequence—who served at his pleasure, had personally approved every major Japanese invasion (except some of the China incursions) and attack (including Pearl Harbor), personally allowed the execution of American captured prisoner of war flyers from the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, and was knowledgeable about most of the Japanese war crimes. However, General MacArthur thought him a stabilizing force in post-war Japan and never did a detailed investigation of his possible indictment. Instead he wrote this magnificently artfully worded telegram to General Eisenhower. MacArthur wanted to shock the Truman administration into allowing him to reduce the Emperor’s dictatorial powers but retain not only the monarchy but avoid indicting Hirohito. He succeeded, and there was no serious investigation of the Emperor as a possible war criminal despite many calls for Hirohito’s indictment from a few allied politicians {43748} and some American and allied veterans groups. Few could argue with the pragmatic result and the rehabilitation of Japan, but the justice of the decision—or lack thereof—has been debated since. See {43823}, {43824}, {603499}, {43831}, {603752}, {43841}, {601309}, {593777}, {43997}, {43999}, {594634}