Despite being a celebrated actor and respected director, Tom Hanks is not very bright. During recent appearances to promote his HBO miniseries The Pacific, Hanks presented some revisionist history by insisting that American involvement in WWII was just a result of racism against the Japanese. He also insinuates that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are merely products of US racism, as well. He has thus far refused to acknowledge his errors and has even gone so far as to defend his astonishing ignorance.
He should have paid more attention to the history books than the movie scripts, as he seems oblivious to the fact that US involvement in WWII came after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in an unprovoked attack. (In case Hanks is as bad with geography as he is with history, Hawaii was not yet a US state but did house a large naval base). After the devastation of WWI on US troops, Americans (including Congress) were bent on a new era of isolationism and resistant to US involvement in the latest world conflict. The bombing, which killed more than 2,000 people and injured over a thousand others, largely changed that public sentiment. The attack was motivated by concern that the US might assist China and Manchuria, where millions of people had been murdered under Japanese occupation. It was also considered a pre-emptive strike meant to handicap US forces and delay efforts to hinder further Japanese invasions of Asian nations.
Aside from defending a nation under attack and liberating various nations, the US troops ultimately stopped the Nazi regime. The Nazi’s tortured and killed approximately 12 million Jews, Catholics, Poles, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals and others, including the mentally handicapped. Total casualties are estimated to be as high as 60 million with as much as 85% being on the allied side and more than half being civilian deaths. In comparison, the combined casualties of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan are less than 500,000.
Attacks motivated purely by hatred would likely have led to much higher numbers of Japanese casualties. Many even credit the decision to use atomic weapons with preventing far higher casualty rates, as this action ended the war. No war is ever good but it seems that US involvement saved lives, liberated people and ended the war more quickly. Such stupidity begs the question as to why the American media gives foolhardy windbags a platform from which to broadcast their ignorance. Go sing, act or whatever but keep your opinions to yourself because nobody is paying to hear about your politics, although your politics may well convince people to stop paying for your art, music or films.
He should have paid more attention to the history books than the movie scripts, as he seems oblivious to the fact that US involvement in WWII came after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in an unprovoked attack. (In case Hanks is as bad with geography as he is with history, Hawaii was not yet a US state but did house a large naval base). After the devastation of WWI on US troops, Americans (including Congress) were bent on a new era of isolationism and resistant to US involvement in the latest world conflict. The bombing, which killed more than 2,000 people and injured over a thousand others, largely changed that public sentiment. The attack was motivated by concern that the US might assist China and Manchuria, where millions of people had been murdered under Japanese occupation. It was also considered a pre-emptive strike meant to handicap US forces and delay efforts to hinder further Japanese invasions of Asian nations.
Aside from defending a nation under attack and liberating various nations, the US troops ultimately stopped the Nazi regime. The Nazi’s tortured and killed approximately 12 million Jews, Catholics, Poles, Slavs, Roma, homosexuals and others, including the mentally handicapped. Total casualties are estimated to be as high as 60 million with as much as 85% being on the allied side and more than half being civilian deaths. In comparison, the combined casualties of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan are less than 500,000.
Attacks motivated purely by hatred would likely have led to much higher numbers of Japanese casualties. Many even credit the decision to use atomic weapons with preventing far higher casualty rates, as this action ended the war. No war is ever good but it seems that US involvement saved lives, liberated people and ended the war more quickly. Such stupidity begs the question as to why the American media gives foolhardy windbags a platform from which to broadcast their ignorance. Go sing, act or whatever but keep your opinions to yourself because nobody is paying to hear about your politics, although your politics may well convince people to stop paying for your art, music or films.
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