James Taranto, writing in the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com, reports that the House of Representatives voted to pay reparations to residents of Guam who were mistreated by the Japanese during World War II. To be sure, Guam was occupied by the Japanese for 3 years or so. And yes, the Japanese did severely mistreat many of the Chamorros, as the natives of Guam are called. This much is history.
Typically, one pays compensation if one has injured someone. I am unable to figure out how the U.S. Government is responsible for the criminal acts of the soldiers of a country with which we were at war. Particularly when those criminal acts occurred sixty years ago. If anybody pays reparations to injured Chamorros, it should be the wealthy Japanese.
The other DrC and I lived and taught on Guam for a year, in the mid-1980s. The Chamorros are neat people, who certainly harbor no love for the Japanese. They are, however, very willing to harvest Japanese tourist yen at the resorts along Tumon Bay.
In my opinion, the statute of limitations has run out on Japanese attrocities. If the bill reaches the President's desk, I hope he vetoes it.
