Terrible things can happen in times
of war. That was shown most acutely in the recent disclosure of
photographs from Iraq's Abu Graib prison showing American soldiers
doing some despicable things to Iraqi detainees. The full shakedown
has yet to play out; whether it was a result of orders from the
U.S. administration, a breakdown in the chain of command, or a product
of overzealous interrogation methods still needs to be addressed.
But the resulting worldwide condemnation has stolen the moral authority
away from the American army, and put ordinary soldiers in the middle
of a wave of Iraqi and terrorist backlash attacks. But these kinds
of actions are not isolated to U.S. soldiers, no matter what those
with permanent anti-American fixations believe. It can happen to
any army from any country when troops have spent time in dangerous
locations, and where they learn to distrust, dislike and basically
disregard the enemy as human.
It can also happen far away from the fighting, right in the middle
of picket fence communities in your own backyard. Not quite sixty
years ago first and second generation Japanese Canadians and Americans
were forced from their homes after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in
1941. They were placed in camps in British Columbia, or moved across
the country to farms and camps elsewhere.
Had this been only a product of wartime security, perhaps it might
have been easier to understand, if not condone. But racial prejudice
against those of Japanese birth coupled with strong and vibrant
Japanese communities both in the agricultural heartland, and in
control of west coast fishing industries, gave those in government
an excuse to remove them. Though these 'prisoners' were not tortured,
the Canadian Japanese were not allowed to reclaim their land after
the war was over, and they had to make new lives in other parts
of the country.
Some would say the Japanese during the war were doing much worse,
killing Allied troops in North America, and on the front lines in
Asia. But it's hard to maintain moral authority when the actions
of governments and countries to innocents within their borders are
based on racial prejudice.
This month's two-part feature by Rob Wakulat and myself looks at
the history of some members of the Canadian Japanese community that
lived through that experience, and several years later, sought redress
for the actions taken by their governments. Also this month, Eelco
Hoenselaar updates his experience with the Dutch and Japanese military
camps based in Iraq over the last month.
Next issue, we'll feature something
on the lighter side, a new performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet,
in Tokyo. At least that war was fictional.
Matt N. Goerzen |
