Comments on: Reparations For Guam: Insanity Squared

By: jerry fell

jerry fell — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:40:01 +0000

Did Japan make any reparations to those U.S. servive men and woman killed or wounded by there forces? Also what if anything was done for our POWs in the Pacific?

By: Don Lloyd

Don Lloyd — Wed, 09 May 2007 08:37:11 +0000

…Moreover, and to be completely frank about it, Guam has benefited over the past sixty years or so from the American military presence there and from its status as an American territory.

I would be reluctant to call it a benefit even if Gaum had been granted statehood status. As a territory, we can be certain that its interactions with the US have almost solely served US purposes and interests.

Regards, Don

By: Jason Pye

Jason Pye — Tue, 08 May 2007 11:06:17 +0000

Oh…and read some of the comments I’m getting.

By: Clynt

Clynt — Tue, 08 May 2007 06:19:19 +0000

I don’t necessarily disagree with you nor do I take a particular stance on this issue but I must enlighten you to some facts that may help you better understand the issue as a whole.

It is true that Japan is responsible for those attrocities however it is the U.S. government who forgave Japan for all those attrocities. Since Guam is an unincorporated territory of the United States and not an independant country it’s government cannot ask Japan for reparations. Guam could ask the federal government to ask Japan for reparations on Guam’s behalf however because the U.S. already forgave Japan this makes it impossible to seek reparations. This is the reason why those who are seeking reparations are instead asking reparations from the US federal gov’t. It is their belief that the U.S. forgave Japan without any input from Guam therefore it is also their belief that the U.S. should ultimitately be held responsible for war reparations.

By: georges

georges — Tue, 08 May 2007 05:43:23 +0000

You do realize, don’t you, that “the citizens of Guam” are actually tax-paying citizens of the US? The US signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952, which set down the terms for all the reparations the US was going to get from the Japan, which Japan thereafter paid in full. The blame for the fact that the US government never got around to sharing those reparations with its own citizens in Guam doesn’t lie with Japan.