A political journey from Armenia to Russia |

"The War Diary” is a road movie that travels from Armenia to Ukraine, through history and geopolitics. After receiving his grandfather’s diary from World War Two, Hakob Melkonyan embarks on the journey of his life.

WW2 evacuee: 'I thought I was going on a day trip'

 

Kitty Baxter’s ninth birthday was 1 September, 1939. It was also the day her life and millions of other people’s changed with the beginning of World War Two.

Kitty was among the hundreds of thousands of children taken out of UK cities and into the countryside, away from the risk of German bombs.

Russia claims it destroyed a Ukrainian naval ship, but it's actually just an old bridge • FRANCE 24

The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video claiming their forces had struck an "amphibious" Ukrainian vehicle,"i.e. a Ukrainian naval vessel near the Zaporizhzhia power plant.  However through geolocating the alleged target from their footage, we discovered it in fact is the remnants of an bridge built during World War II.

Latvia brings down World War Two memorial

 

Latvia's parliament has voted to remove all remaining Soviet statues and plaques.

The country has joined Estonia in bringing down World War Two memorials in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Demolition machinery was used to remove the 79-metre (259-foot) monument.

Putin praises Ukraine invasion at Victory Day parade, Zelenskyy delivers defiant response | DW News

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia's military operation in Ukraine was necessary because the West was "preparing for the invasion of our land, including Crimea." Putin was speaking at the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow marking the anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

Will so-called comfort women get any compensation?

 

South Koreans were forced to provide sexual services to Japanese soldiers before and during the Second World War.

South Koreans are marking 30 years since they began weekly protests against Japan’s wartime sex slavery scandal.

The protesters say they want a sincere apology and compensation for thousands of women who were victims of human and sex trafficking.

Broome: Diving the remnants of a WW2 attack on Australia

 

During World War Two, a surprise air raid on the remote Australian town of Broome killed scores of people.

But even in Australia it is not widely remembered, historians say.

How Do the Japanese Teach About WWII?

 

The bridge design that helped win World War II

 The Bailey bridge was Donald Bailey’s innovative solution to a number of wartime obstacles. The allies needed a way to cross bodies of water quickly, but bombed-out bridges — or an absence of crossings entirely — made that incredibly difficult. That was only compounded by new, heavy tanks that needed incredibly strong support.

Memories of Burma’s ‘forgotten army’ on 75th anniversary of the end of conflict

 

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the formal end of the Second World War. One of the defining campaigns of the war in Asia was in Burma, now called Myanmar, which was then part of the British Empire.

Diary Reveals Reality of Living in a WWII Japanese Internment Camp

This woman was born in a Japanese internment camp during World War II — and she says history is repeating itself today with immigrant detention centers

Ex-soldier's death casts light on Spaniards who helped liberate Paris

Rafael Gómez Nieto, who has died from coronavirus, was last survivor of WW2 La Nueve force

The death from coronavirus of a 99-year-old former soldier who was the last surviving member of a company of predominantly Spanish troops who helped liberate Paris from Nazi occupation has thrown a spotlight on one of the lesser-known events in French history.

Rafael Gómez Nieto, who fought against Franco in the Spanish civil war before joining the allied war effort, died after contracting Covid-19 in a nursing home in Strasbourg.

Gómez Nieto grew up in a town in the Almería region of Andalucía, the son of a career soldier who had been part of the royal guard to the Spanish king Alfonso XIII.

After fighting as part of the republican forces in the civil war – and seeing action in the four-month Battle of the Ebro, considered to be the conflict’s longest and bloodiest battle – he crossed the border into France along with about 500,000 of his compatriots.

That Time America Defeated "Communist" Japan

Who can forget Americas defeat of Communist Japan. Celebrated every year as of one the countries most important military victories equally important as its defeat of the Socialist Communist Empire of Nauru. These victories will live on in the annals of American history for all time. 

It takes a special kind of ignorance to say live on air that America defeated Communist Japan which never existed.  Granted this bit of rhetorical nonsense imitated from Ainsely Earhart one of not to bright hosts of Fox and Friends.


On Fox & Friends on Thursday morning, Ainsley Earhardt proudly recalled the United States defeating “communist Japan.” She was responding to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who said Wednesday that America “was never that great.” In her patriotic fervor, she fudged some of the details in a passionate defense of the nation: “We defeated communist Japan, radical Islamists... We’re the most generous country in all of the world. Yes, we have our faults, but because of this country our world is definitely a better place. We are great.” One of those faults might be knowledge of history: Japan has never been a communist country.


America defeated Imperial Japan, thus ending that countries hegemonic ambitions and World War II. Yes, Japan does have a Communist party. Japan was never a communist country. 

Inside North Korea's bubble in Japan

For this episode I found myself embeded with a small community in Japan. They were born there, they speak the language. But they're not Japanese citizens, or even ethnically Japanese - they're North Korean. There's about 150,000 of them living in Japan today, and they've been there for over a century. This community has close ties with the regime in Pyongyang, which supports them financially (and vice-versa). But more importantly, Pyongyang offers them an identity, a heritage, and cultural legitimacy - things that some elements of Japanese society work to deny them.

Most Decorated Unit In U.S. History Fought For A Country That Didn’t Accept Them

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was made up of Japanese-Americans, many of whom served when their families were imprisoned behind barbed wire.

As Americans look back and honor service members across the country on Veterans Day, one unit’s work is largely left out of the mainstream conversation. 

But the 442nd Regimental Combat Team’s contributions to the country are nothing short of remarkable. 

With the motto “Go for broke,” the unit was made up of Japanese-Americans who served the U.S. during World War II ― a time of rampant anti-Japanese sentiment. As many of their civilian loved ones were imprisoned behind barbed wire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the team accrued an impressive combat record, becoming the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service.

And they did this all the while enduring racism and xenophobia at home, said Mitch Maki, president of Go For Broke National Education Center, which spreads awareness around the Japanese-American soldiers.

They also racked up 21 Medals of Honor, 4,000 Purple Hearts, 29 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars and more than 4,000 Bronze Stars. The group’s immense contributions in the war include helping to liberate several towns, including Bruyeres and Biffontaine, France, as well as the sub-camps of the Nazi concentration camp Dachau.

The Japanese-American soldiers took on incredible risks. In one particularly memorable engagement, the 442nd was ordered to rescue the “Lost Battalion,” white U.S. soldiers who were stranded on a ridge near Saint-Dié, France, attempting to withstand heavy enemy fire. Two other battalions had already failed to rescue the battalion, which was running low on food, water and supplies, according to Densho. The military decided to send in the 442nd. 

Abe says it is his duty to revise constitution

Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party gain a majority of seats in the recent upper house elections giving them, when including New Komeito and smaller nationalist parties a 2/3 majority. Abe's first turn as Prime Minister ended when he was forced to resign over his insistence of revising Japan's constitution to the detriment of other pressing issues facing the country.  Shinzo Abe and his allies think in the long term and now they may have achieved their long sought after goal. Restoring Japan to its pre World War II status as a major economic and military power.

Shinzo Abe is a member of a prominent Japanese political family his grandfather Nobusuke Kishi served as minister of munitions during World War II was arrested and briefly imprisoned, released and went on to become Prime Minister.  His views on the Second World War come through his grandfather a man he greatly admired.  Like many of his fellow travelers he believes history has distorted Japan's imperialist history starting with the occupation and annexation of Korea, the invasion of Manchuria and the rape of Nanjing to Japan's role in the war.  Never mind that many in his party and cabinet believe the rape of Nanjing never took place or that the imperial army never committed war crimes.  In 1974 a group of politicians and like minded supporters formed a group whose goal is to restore the dignity of  emperor and Japan following the humiliation of its defeat in World War II and the imposition of its pacifist constitution by the United States.  That group with  30,000 members is now called Nippon Kaigi.

      

Less than two days after winning that election Shinzo Abe has declared that the most import issue facing Japan isn't its declining birth rate, aging population or a struggling economy. No, the most important issue is the revision of the constitution. Thus restoring Japan's supposed loss of dignity and allow Japanese military forces to once again in engage in military adventurism.

An emboldened Shinzo Abe called Monday for debate on Japan’s pacifist constitution, which he said it was his “duty” to revise after scoring a strong win in weekend elections.

Voters backed the hawkish prime minister, despite a lacklustre economic performance, handing his Liberal Democratic Party and its allies control of more than half of the upper house of parliament.

Analysts say with the support of small nationalist parties, Abe may now have the numbers to push through a change to the constitutional bar on Japanese troops waging war.

“We have always set a goal of revising the constitution…that is my duty as president,” Abe said.

“But the party does not have more than two-thirds of seats in both chambers by itself, so I don’t expect the draft would pass as is,” he said, referring to the parliament’s lower house as well, and suggesting compromise was needed. “So I hope debate will steadily deepen.”

Japan should stop apologising over war: poll

Japan should stop apologising for its war record, according to a majority of voters surveyed in a poll published Wednesday.

However, future generations should not be "pre-destined" to say sorry for Tokyo's wartime record, he added on Friday.

The poll published by Yomiuri newspaper found 63 percent of those surveyed agreed that Japan should refrain from saying sorry in future, while 27 percent said it should continue.

 The poll published by Yomiuri newspaper found 63 percent of those surveyed agreed that Japan should refrain from saying sorry in future, while 27 percent said it should continue.

What the writer of this article fails to state is that the Yomiuri Shinbun is a conservative publication which supports the policies of Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party.  Is it any wonder that 63% of the polls respondents agreed with the question.

Further last year the Yomiuri Shinbun advocated for the closure of the Asahi Shinbun a liberal daily over a series of articles they had published in the 1990's dealing with the Japanese Imperial Armies use of sex slaves during World War II.   The Yomiuri Shinbun wasn't a lone actor in these efforts as other major conservative media organizations and outside pressure groups joined in the effort. 

Why Asia is still fighting over World War II

In 2008 when Shinzo Abe was first elected Prime Minister he let it be known that Japan's dignity would finally be  restored  after years of humiliation following its defeat in World War II.  Mr. Abe bristled at the constitution imposed upon Japan by the Americans, which in conservative political circles caused pain and resentment.  As it removed Japan from "Great Nation" status and reduced it to being a vassal of American political and military dominance. 

Abe completely misread the public's sentiment for his brand of conservatism and historical view. Then like today he wanted to eliminate the constraints placed upon Japan's military by Article 9 of the post war constitution.  Japanese voters then as they are today are unwilling to play along with Abe's distorted view of Japan's place in the world community.  The difference between know and then?  In 2008 he showed his cards to soon and was forced to resign just one into his premiership.  In his go around as Prime Minister he held his cards to close to the vest for more than a year before reviling, once again that he and the Liberal Democrats would once again seek to change the status of Japan's military allowing them to participate in overseas conflicts which American forces were engaged.  Even with the public firmly against these revisions the ruling coalition passed the security   bills through the lower house of parliament on a party line vote using its overwhelming majority to do so.    


Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party aren't just focused on the constitutional revisions they also seek to revise Japan's history in the time between the the two world wars and Japan's actions during the second.   Most of Japan's current political elite have family ties which go back to that era either through political connections or business associations.  Given the worlds negative view of Japan's actions during that time these people are simply trying to rewrite history and are succeeding as they have control over the what students are taught through a vetting process for the publication of text books by the Ministry of Education which has final say on which books will be published. Because of this process they have left the Japanese public willfully ignorant of Japan's actions prior to and during the Second World War.

At the forefront of those demanding that Japan do more to atone for its wartime legacy are China and South Korea. 

The Chinese still bristle at the Japanese occupation of their country’s eastern reaches. They are especially bitter over the “Rape of Nanking” in 1937-38, when Japanese troops captured the city now known as Nanjing, which was then the Chinese capital. Some 200,000 people were killed and tens of thousands of women raped by marauding soldiers, according to the judgment of an international war crimes court.

South Koreans still harbor painful memories from 35 years of Japanese colonial occupation. They have focused their resentment on the fate of “comfort women,” Korean women and girls forced to work as prostitutes in Japan’s wartime military brothels.

Past Japanese leaders have apologized dozens of times for their country’s behavior in terms varying from remorse and regret to sorrow and repentance. The clearest statement came 20 years ago, in 1995, when then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama acknowledged Tokyo’s history of “colonial rule and aggression” and offered his “heartfelt apology” for “these irrefutable facts of history.”

Just to make sure the world understood where Abe stood on these issues he decided  that poking Asian countries in the eye with a metaphorical sharp stick was best.

 Most provocatively, in December 2013, Mr. Abe marked the first anniversary of his election by visiting the Yasukuni shrine, where Japan’s war dead – including more than 1,000 convicted war criminals – are commemorated. He had earlier infuriated the Chinese government by arguing in a parliamentary debate that “the definition of aggression has yet to be established in academia or in the international community,” suggesting that Japan had not really invaded China.

  

Kobe air raid survivor in letter to PM Abe: 'You really have no idea what war is'

"Do people in elite positions not understand the sadness felt by average people who have suffered during times of war?"
Kobe resident Asako Zaii, 87, has found that her feelings regarding the security legislation passed by the Lower House on the afternoon of July 16 are almost unbearable.
"Mr. Abe, you really have no idea what war is, do you?" her letter asked pointedly.
Zaii's history -- what she refers to as her "real experience with war" -- involved relentless bombing during U.S. military air raids in March 1945, which instantaneously turned the city streets of Kobe into a sea of fire.
She was 17 years old at the time. Wrapping herself in a futon for protection against the fist-sized sparks of fire flying all around her, she ran to seek safety.
Her house, which was located near a new district in Kobe's busiest area, burned down -- reducing to ashes the chest of goods that her parents had prepared for her to take with her when she left home to marry.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry testifying before Congress about his time in Vietnam:

When he came home, he protested against the war, and in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971, famously asked: "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

The Week That Was

China which 2 years ago claimed 90% of the South China sea continues to assert its svoengerty.  It's latest argument is that the feelings of its ancestors who died 1,000 years ago would be hurt. How, would  people who've been dead for 1,000 years ever know?


While the United States has finally started to confront the meaning of the Confederate Battle Flag of Northern Virginia another country has a flag problem.  Japan continues to use the Rising Sun flag even though many in Asia associate it with the war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Army.  Given the the historical pretzel hole the Liberal Democratic Party have twisted themselves into  don't think for a moment  these fools are ever going to change their minds.

There's a new sex symbol in Japan, no it's not the usual symbol.  So, why has this sex symbol drawn such a large following of women when he's not exactly a man of your dreams.  Is it his smoldering good looks,  his large physical presence or those eyes?  Who knows?  But, he certainly has a large following.