On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 17:44:10 +0900, Scott Reynolds <sar@gol.com>
wrote:
 
>>>A lot of the criticism about Japanese whitewashing seems to focus on
>>>what people (politicians, etc.) didn't say, rather than on what they
>>>actually said. I'm happy to hear that you don't subscribe to that sort
>>>of thinking.

>> I disagree with you. The criticism about Japanese whitewashing is similar to
>> that about Yoshida, who argues that all stories of the abuses and atrocities
>> are overblown, without any admission that abuses and atrocities really
>> occurred. It isn't that they are condemned for their silence, but for their
>> blanket rejection of any hint of the atrocities.

>On the contrary. Yoshida-san never said there were no atrocities. You 
>are jumping on him for not saying there were atrocities, rather than for 
>something he actually said.

>> A similar situation would be a Southerner who refuses to condemn slavery,
>> but instead heaps praise on the South for resisting the Union's
>> "interference" with their economy. 

>But here again, you cannot assume that such a person actually thinks 
>slavery was beneficial, or does not think it was wrong, just because he 
>"refuses to condemn slavery."

Yeah, that's as ridiculous as assuming someone's a conspiracy theorist
simply because they have questions about the 9/11 attack on The
Pentagon.