Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] is it possible to define "a lie"?

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

I think that this is a good example of a lie.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,255840,00.html

Japanese PM Abe Denies Women Forced to Be Sex Slaves in WWII

Thursday, March 01, 2007
Associate Press

TOKYO —  Japan's nationalist prime minister denied Thursday that the 
country's military forced women into sexual slavery during World War II, 
casting doubt on a past government apology and jeopardizing a fragile 
detente with his Asian neighbors.

The comments by Shinzo Abe, a member of a group of lawmakers pushing to 
roll back a 1993 apology to the sex slaves, were his clearest statement 
as prime minister on military brothels known in Japan as "comfort stations."

Historians say some 200,000 women -- mostly from Korea and China -- 
served in the Japanese military brothels throughout Asia in the 1930s 
and 1940s. Many victims say they were kidnapped and forced into sexual 
slavery by Japanese troops.

But Abe, who since taking office in September has promoted patriotism in 
Japan's schools and a more assertive foreign policy, told reporters 
there was no proof the women were forced into prostitution.

"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion," Abe said.

His remarks contradicted evidence in Japanese documents unearthed in 
1992 that historians said showed military authorities had a direct role 
in working with contractors to forcibly procure women for the brothels.

The documents, which are backed up by accounts from soldiers and 
victims, said Japanese authorities set up the brothels in response to 
uncontrolled rape sprees by invading Japanese soldiers in East Asia.

In 1993, then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono apologized to the 
victims of sex slavery, though the statement did not meet demands by 
former "comfort women" that it be approved by parliament. Two years 
later, the government set up a compensation fund for victims, but it was 
based on private donations -- not government money -- and has been 
criticized as a way for the government to avoid owning up to the abuse.

The mandate for the fund is to expire March 31.

Abe's comments were certain to rile South Korea and China, which accuse 
Tokyo of failing to fully atone for wartime atrocities. Abe's government 
has been recently working to repair relations with Seoul and Beijing.

The statement came just hours after South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun 
marked a national holiday honoring the anniversary of a 1919 uprising 
against Japanese colonial rule by urging Tokyo to come clean about its past.

Roh also referred to hearings held by the U.S. House of Representatives 
last month on a resolution urging Japan to "apologize for and 
acknowledge" the imperial army's use of sex slaves during the war.

"The testimony reiterated a message that no matter how hard the Japanese 
try to cover the whole sky with their hand, there is no way that the 
international community would condone the atrocities committed during 
Japanese colonial rule," Roh said.

Dozens of people also rallied outside the Japanese Embassy in Seoul to 
mark the anniversary, lining up dead dogs' heads on the ground with 
pieces of paper in their mouths listing names of Koreans who allegedly 
collaborated with the Japanese during its 1910-45 colonial rule. Protest 
organizers said the animals were slaughtered at a restaurant; dogs are 
regularly consumed as food in Korea.

Roh's office said late Thursday it did not immediately have a direct 
response to the Japanese leader's remarks. In Beijing, calls to the 
Chinese Foreign Ministry seeking comment on the remarks were not 
immediately returned.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack would not comment on Abe's 
statement. "I'll let the Japanese political system deal with that," he said.

The sex slave question has been a cause celebre for nationalist 
politicians and scholars in Japan who claim the women were professional 
prostitutes and were not coerced into servitude by the military.

Before Abe spoke Thursday, a group of ruling Liberal Democratic Party 
lawmakers discussed their plans to push for an official revision of 
Kono's 1993 apology.

Nariaki Nakayama, chairman of the group of about 120 lawmakers, sought 
to play down the government's involvement in the brothels by saying it 
was similar to a school that hires a company to run its cafeteria.

"Some say it is useful to compare the brothels to college cafeterias run 
by private companies, who recruit their own staff, procure foodstuffs, 
and set prices," he said.

"Where there's demand, businesses crop up ... but to say women were 
forced by the Japanese military into service is off the mark," he said. 
"This issue must be reconsidered, based on truth ... for the sake of 
Japanese honor."

Sex slave victims, however, say they still suffer wounds -- physical and 
psychological -- from the war.

Lee Yong-soo, 78, a South Korean who was interviewed during a recent 
trip to Tokyo, said she was 14 when Japanese soldiers took her from her 
home in 1944 to work as a sex slave in Taiwan.

"The Japanese government must not run from its responsibilities," said 
Lee, who has long campaigned for Japanese compensation. "I want them to 
apologize. To admit that they took me away, when I was a little girl, to 
be a sex slave. To admit that history."

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