Sunday, August 21, 2005
Reviews
Hugh Hewitt saw The Great Raid today and described it as "a very, very good movie." He then takes on one of the movie's critics, Stephen Holden. Mr. Hewitt's concluding paragraph is particularly insightful.
I agree. Any debate over American tactics in the Pacific during WWII needs to include a discussion of the brutal, fanatical enemy that we faced, an enemy that was willing to throw everything and everyone it had at us in order to repel an American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Also see Abigail's summary of the John Roberts documents known as the Iran Emergency. It's a story of international intrigue and a high-stakes game of brinkmanship. Well, not quite. It's actually a story about proper punctuation and font styles. She will be reporting on documents pertaining to pardons and pro bono work in the coming days. Stay tuned.
Perhaps Mr. Holden's dismissive review of The Great [Raid] is anchored in part in the lesson this movie teaches about why the American actions at the end of World War 2 were so intentionally devastating. First hand knowledge of the brutality and fanaticism of Imperial Japan persuades most observors that the capitulation that followed the two atomic bomb attacks could never have been achieved through other means except for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. From a distance of 60 years it is easy to denounce American tactics. The Great [Raid] makes it much harder to do that. Maybe that's why Mr. Holden would prefer you skip the movie.
I agree. Any debate over American tactics in the Pacific during WWII needs to include a discussion of the brutal, fanatical enemy that we faced, an enemy that was willing to throw everything and everyone it had at us in order to repel an American invasion of the Japanese home islands.
Also see Abigail's summary of the John Roberts documents known as the Iran Emergency. It's a story of international intrigue and a high-stakes game of brinkmanship. Well, not quite. It's actually a story about proper punctuation and font styles. She will be reporting on documents pertaining to pardons and pro bono work in the coming days. Stay tuned.
