Want a bloody nose, just start a fight

I am in the Burmese city of Yangon watching the Japanese broadcast of Obama's visit to Hiroshima. I felt moved to express my thoughts to NHK. Here is a copy of my email:

I have been watching your skewed coverage of Obama's visit to Hiroshima and I am angry that not once has your agency mentioned the fact that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

Your country dragged us into that conflict, your country continued the aggression with death marches of U.S. POWs, battles in and throughout the South Pacific and other countries and showed no signs of relenting.

As much as I strongly regret that innocent lives had to be used to force your government to back off, your country began the conflict, therefore your country did this to your own people as a consequence of your country's continued aggression.

Had the situation been reversed, the U.S. would be blaming Japan for the destructive forces of dropping The Bomb on, say, Los Angeles, and the people of Japan would be blaming the U.S. for forcing Japan into the conflict in the first place. As reasonable parents tell their children, "If you don't want a bloody nose, don't start a fight."

Julie Moskal

Glen Ellyn