CPI Introduction
During the last few weeks the attention of the world has been riveted on the possible use of chemical weapons by the Assad government in Syria. Although this charge has not been proven - some analysts argue that it is without foundation - it is understandable why there is so much odium against this form of warfare which is commonly regarded as barbaric and morally unsustainable even as a means of defence.
According to John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in the First World War and the man responsible for establishing the first gas warfare unit in the American military, “chemical warfare should be abolished among nations, as abhorrent to civilization. It is a cruel, unfair and improper use of science. It is fraught with the gravest danger to non-combatants and demoralizes the better instincts of humanity.”
It is necessary to point out that, despite its present strong position on the use of chemical weapons, the United States did not successfully ratify a treaty to ban the use of chemical weapons in warfare until 1975.
It is also important to note that China and Vietnam have been the theatre of chemical and biological warfare engaged in by Japan during the Second World War and the United States more recently.
History provides important lessons but only if it is factual, truthful and accurate. Official histories all too often are slanted, distort, misrepresent and even falsify – some more than others.
The excerpt below from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, on the origins of germ and chemical warfare in Asia, provides a useful reminder to us to continuously interrogate what is the official version of history – whether it is in another part of the world or in Malaysia.
Unit 731
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Unit 731 |
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The Unit 731 complex |
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Location |
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Date |
1935–1945 |
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Attack type |
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Weapon(s) |
Biological weapons |
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Deaths |
Over 3,000 from inside experiments and tens of thousands from field experiments |
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Perpetrators |
General Shir? Ishii |
Unit 731 (731?? Nana-san-ichi butai ? , Chinese: 731??) was a covertbiological andchemical warfare research and development unit of theImperial Japanese Army that undertook lethalhuman experimentation during theSecond Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) andWorld War II. It was responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes carried out by Japanese personnel. Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district ofHarbin, the largest city in the Japanesepuppet state ofManchukuo (now Northeast China).
It was officially known as the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army (?????????? Kant?gun B?eki Ky?suibu Honbu ? ). Originally set up under the Kempeitaimilitary police of the Empire of Japan, Unit 731 was taken over and commanded until the end of the war by General Shiro Ishii, an officer in the Kwantung Army.
Between 3,000 and 12,000 men, women, and children[1][2]—from which around 600 every year were provided by theKempeitai [3]—died during the human experimentation conducted by Unit 731 at the camp based in Pingfang alone, which does not include victims from other medical experimentation sites.[4] Almost 70% of the victims who died in thePingfang camp were Chinese, including both civilian and military.[5] Close to 30% of the victims were Russian.[6] Some others wereSouth East Asians and Pacific Islanders, at the time colonies of theEmpire of Japan, and a small number of theprisoners of war fromthe Allies of World War II [7] (although many more Allied POWs were victims of Unit 731 at other sites).
Many of the scientists involved in Unit 731 went on to prominent careers in post-war politics, academia, business, and medicine. Some were arrested by Soviet forces and tried at the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials; others surrendered to the American Forces. It has been postulated that one reason the scientists were not tried was that the information and experience gained in the studies of the biological warfare was of a great value for the United States biological weapons development program .[8] On 6 May 1947, Douglas MacArthur, as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces , wrote to Washington that "additional data, possibly some statements from Ishii probably can be obtained by informing Japanese involved that information will be retained in intelligence channels and will not be employed as 'War Crimes' evidence." [9] The deal was concluded in 1948.
