British newspapers have erate, pre-emptive strike debeen full of indignant ar- signed to intimidate the Soviet Union, which virtualiv ticles attacking the Japaunaided had driven the Nazis nese government and out of Eastern Europe and ruling class for its fail- was seen as the new threat ure to apologise for their to US and British interests. country's atrocities in The fact is that capitalism World War Two. is a brutal system that in"The tribe that can't admit flicts suffering on countless it was wrong" is the way the millions. Daily Telegraph sums up the The imperialist powers which seek to dominate Japanese establishment.
Of course such moralising whole areas of the globe are the most brutal of all, and comes strangely from a country which can count the fire- their apologies are worth as bombing of Dresden among little as their professed concern for democracy and huits own history of countless man rights. war crimes against rival imperialist nations and against the indigenous peoples of countries colonised by British imperialism.
But the hypocrisy goes even further, when we remember that the Japanese were not simply the inflictors but also the recipients of imperialist atrocities.
There has never been any apology for the cynical Allied decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. which the Telegraph, like most similar articles, fails even to mention.
That act of barbarism had nothing to do with winning the war in Asia: the Japanese surrender was already known to be certain. It was a delib- If it's so safe, why not do it in France?
Jacques Chirac's new
French government has lost no time reminding us of the realities of imperialism. His decision to restart nuclear tests in the South Pacific is not only a classic gesture of colonial arrogance, but a reminder that imperialism is still squandering countless billions on barbaric weaponry of mass slaughter, long after the alleged reason, the supposed 'threat from the east, has disappeared.
One notable silence among the governments denouncing the French decision was Britain.
John Major - supported on this as on so many issues by Tony Blair - is also pouring billions into the building of Trident submarines to maintain the pretence of a "British' deterrent. There will of course be no apology from them to the school students facing cuts, the NHS patients on waiting lists, the homeless or the jobless. who would benefit if this ludicrous scheme were dropped. The Tories are another tribe who cannot admit they are wrong. But they know that imperialism means never having to say you're sorry.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 86, June 24 1995, Page 4. conference