What follows are the quoted remarks of the leader of a country which was occupying, by force, another country, a country in Asia. The occupiers were being pressed by foreign and domestic opinion to bring their troops back home without delay.
"The stationing of troops is a matter of life and death..." the minister burst out. "No concession in that direction!"
The country had already agreed in principle to the eventual withdrawal of its armed forces, he continued. Now it was obvious that what was really being demanded was the withdrawal of all its forces at once. This was impossible.
Hundreds of thousands of troops were still locked in battle in the occupied country. The interior was a hotbed of terrorists and bandits, and only the presence of foreign troops in certain areas could guarantee law and order and the successful economic growth of that whole part of Asia.
Total withdrawal before the aims of war had been accomplished "would not be in keeping with the dignity of the Army," and the entire General Staff "as well as the troops abroad" agreed with him.
Did you think that this has something to do with the American occupation of Iraq or Afghanistan? Think again. The speaker was General Hideki Tojo, War Minister and later Prime Minister of Japan. The occupied country was China. The passage quoted is in Volume I of The Rising Sun: the Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945, by John Toland.
It is not history that repeats itself, gentle reader. It is human nature.
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