Flutterby™! : Dubya on history 2002-02-26 00:09:27+00

Dubya on history

2002-02-26 00:09:27+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Via RC3, Dubya talks about relations between Japan and the United States:

...for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times.

I'm reminded of an old Tom Lehrer song about the Germans getting into the MLF treaty:

Once all the Germans were warlike, and mean
But that couldn't happen again
We taught them a lesson in nineteen eighteen
And they've hardly bothered us since then...

Where did Bush learn his history.. or math. What happened to WWII, Pearl Harbor, Nuclear Bombs? Is this an honest mistake (drop the 100 years), or is he forgetting the Japan is an occupied protectorate. OK. the offical occupation ended in 1952, but we still protect them as part of a "mutual defense treaty" and forcibly (and rightfully so) deny them a large military. They are limited to a 'Japan SDF (Self Defense Force)' which is still under US military jurisdiction. Still, this is a growing military with interests offshore: see: http://www.feer.com/articles/2001/0111_01/p020region.html for a good summary.

Alliance? We helped rebuild their country after WWII, and helped create the industrial and technological base there. They learned how to wage an economic war, and are very successful at it. All the benefits of winning a war are theirs, and no dead bodies.

and.. (soup box teetering... as I rant) we should be practicing the exact same economic policies as Japan: high tarriffs protecting our internal industry, and an invasive acquiring approach to building and operating industries in other countries.

Well, did he say they were 150 continuous years? Maybe he went back and counted all the calendar years in which we had nice things to say about each other over the last 510 years.