I don't think the dead Jews and Russians would agree with you, but basically you're right. I wouldn't recommend Iris Chang though. Read something by one of the Japanese soldiers like Kazuo Sone, if you can grab it somewhere. Here's an outtake:
"To boost the morale and courage of new recruits during the war, we experimented with bayoneting the enemy. That means using POWs or local civilians as live targets. New recruits without any battle experience would learn from this practice. It was unlucky for the people selected as targets, but it was also a painful experience for the new soldier forced to participate in this experience. Facing the prisoners and civilians, every recruit wore a tense and expressionless countenance, staring with trembling lips and bloody eyes at their victims. They held their bayonet-fixed rifles in such a way as if ready to cry for help and flee. Hearing the order to charge, they nervously leaped forward and yell kill---!
But often those charges lacked energy and determination and the yelling was feeble. It was impossible to finish off a victim with this kind of charge. The human targets wailed and howled in extreme pain. Their blood spurted from the open wounds. At this point, the recruits would be frightened by what they had done. The horrifying scene softened the murderous look on their faces. But when the victims continued to scream in pain, the blood gushing from their bodies, the soldiers would stab aimlessly and repeated, hoping to end their lives quickly and escape the ordeal, until their live targets became motionless.
This kind of killing experience was every soldier's test and ordeal. After this they would be fearless in real battle, and would glory in the act of killing. War made people cruel, bestial, and insane. It was an abyss of inhuman crimes."
(http://people.bu.edu/wwildman/WeirdWildWeb/courses/theo1/projects/2001_chen/forgotten_holocaust.htm#III%20WHAT%20ARE%20THE%20ATROCITIES?)
Also recommendable are the BBC documentaries "Horror in the East" and "Timewatch: Emperor Hirohito".
Nanking didn't happen by accident, it was the result of a deliberate policy. The Japanese soldiers were literally taught to see the Chinese as sub-humans to be more effective killers and conquerors. What's worrying is that in Japan, unlike Germany, the deniers are in power.
"Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it - and suffer the consequences." (The latter part is often omitted)
When I think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki now, I cannot help but see them more in the light of ending the war and deserved retribution - although again, it hit the weakest and most vulnerable.
P.S. I just discovered this: http://www.users.bigpond.com/battleforaustralia/JapWarCrimes/Cross-section_JapWarCrimes.html
--> Murder and Cannibalism
Unbelieveable?
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