TO THE EDITOR:
Professor Marc Lange’s letter (“Ground Zero Imam’s past comments questionable,” March 1) represents yet another misunderstanding and misuse of history for contemporary purposes. In commenting on the motives of suicide bombers, he asks, “Would anyone try to explain the behavior of kamikaze pilots in World War II, for example, without citing prevailing attitudes toward the emperor and other aspects of Japanese culture?”
First, there were a small but telling number of ethnically Korean kamikaze pilots whose homeland was under brutal Japanese rule. They shared neither respect for the emperor nor Japanese culture. Second, the Japanese remained culturally Japanese and revered the emperor throughout the war, yet Japan did not take to kamikaze attacks until late 1944. Clearly, emperor worship and other cultural constants were not immediate causes of the change in Japanese behavior. Third, most kamikaze attacks took place in naval battles, where American industrial might, and the Japanese lack thereof, was particularly decisive.
Indeed, what led to Japan’s wholesale adoption of kamikaze tactics was not any allegedly Japanese cultural aspect; it was the turning tide of the war. As long as the war looked winnable, there was no need to resort to suicide attacks. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Joseph Baumgartner
Chapel Hill Resident
