Japanese Kamikaze vs. Islamic Suicide Bomber
by Rit NosotroComparative Essay
Contrast Japanese kamikaze bombers with Palestinian suicide bombers.
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Summary:
[This essay is discussed at: http://www.tsinoy.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-2657.html]
Suicide bombing, the act of killing one's self, is horrible yet very commonplace in some parts of the world. Almost every day you hear about some young Palestinian going into an Israeli restaurant or bus with a backpack of explosives and setting them off. In the end the collateral damage is usually very bad. Its not a new thing either, before Muslims used it against Israel, the biggest use of the suicide bomber was in the Pacific Ocean and done by the Japanese.
Japanese Kamikaze
By 1945, the Japanese realized that their navy, while powerful, wasn’t
good enough to beat the United States. Aware that they were losing the war;
they started looking for a way to turn the tide. They noticed that when a plane
accidentally crashed into a ship it caused much more damage then a bunch of
planes using machine guns. It was decided that they could use that knowledge
to load planes with heavy explosives and purposely drive them into the U.S.
carriers and battleships. Remembering how a major typhoon, later named kamikaze
or divine wind, saved their country from attack by the Mongols years ago, they
revived the term and used it for the suicide missions.
Japan followed the Shinto religion at the time, Shinto is “an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism." It teaches devotion to deities of nature, and the Emperor is pictured as the descendant of the Sun goddess causing him to be worshiped like a living god. Following a culture of samurai warrior codes of honor, devotion and obedience, when their emperor asks for men willing to die for him, thousands volunteered. Volunteered to willingly to die for their country and emperor. Do not mistakenly say that the Muslim suicide bombers do the same; they do it for spiritual rewards, which includes the promise of sexual fulfillment, not patriotic love of country or leader.
Not wanting to waste trained expert pilots, the Japanese took raw recruits and gave them about thirty days or more of rough flight training. They had to learn how to fly the light planes carrying 200 pounds logs meant simulate bombs weighing over 500 pounds. They were taught two approaches, one high and one very low. The high one made it harder for enemy fighters to target and destroy the kamikazes. The very low approach allowed the planes to avoid detection by radar. However, low flying planes vulnerable to crashing planes and exploding shells around the ships. The pilots were not even allowed to close their eyes when they crashed, because that could result in missing the ship, hitting the water and dieing without harming the enemy. Japanese officers complained that this would waste lives and bombs needlessly. The planes they used, the Nakajima Ki-27, were obsolete in 1945; top speed was 292 mph with a range of 1,060. Normally the aircraft was armed with two machine-guns and could carry 220 pounds worth of bombs. For the kamikazes the machine guns were removed, they were only given enough fuel to find the enemy fleet and crash, and the kamikazes carried almost twice as much bomb power than normal. They quickly became highly effective, sinking 17 U.S. ships and damage 50 by early 1945.
It seems weird that a culture driven and held together by honor would use suicide bombers to fight a war. Yet they do seem to follow their code of honor, they did not attack civilians, only military targets, nor did they needless waste their pilots but trained them appropriately for their missions. Although the Japanese resented the power, riches, and advantages their enemy had, they also respected the United States. The Japanese Admirals in charge were desperate realizing they were losing; yet refusing to surrender since it went against their code of honor. Having no other choice they decided that sacrificing thousands of their countrymen, in a last bid to crush the U.S. navy, was a more honorable path than surrender. As "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18), their "honorable" decisions led to the destruction of the nation. Even after atomic destruction some wanted to go against the Emperor and honorably fight to the last Japanese with his sharpened bambo spear.
Islamic Suicide Bombers
Prior to 9/11, suicide bombers acted on a much smaller scale then the Japanese
kamikazes did. Like the kamikazes who were government funded, the families of
Islamic suicide bombers are also paid. The Iraqi government paid $20,000 US
to the family of the dead terrorist. Although religious nationalism and paradise
is at the heart of the decision to blow themselves up, the promised monetary
incentive removes regret knowing their families will be taken care of after
they die. Not a bad life insurance plan, especially since the poor will get
paid a lot of money. Some people even get there lives upgraded, spending a year
in luxury before executing their mission and dying.
Up until the bombings is Madrid, London, and the US, the Islamic people who became terrorists (suicide bombers) were generally considered to be poor uneducated people. But poverty was not the case with the new breed of educated, middle-class suicide bombers. Ideology, not poverty or depression, allows fanatical religious clerics or leaders to intice these young people. Prior to the recent engagement against Iraq, small groups or “cells” typically didn’t have the resources to wage open war. Given the tremendous financial resources Syria backed Hezbolah, and even E.U. financed Hamas, there are plenty of explosives available to strap onto willing bodies. State sponsered terrorism will eventually backfire. Previously, the terrorists could spread out in small groups making it very hard to target and eliminate them. With nations becoming more polorized in their support for so called Palestinian Freedom Fighters, those sources of support become tracable and vuneralble.
Islam plays a major part in influencing the suicide bombers. Though, the holy book of Islam, the Koran, is very conflicting on these grounds. For example chapter 5:82 in the Koran says “you will certainly find the nearest in friendship to those who believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians.” So Muhammad is saying right there to trust and befriend Christians. Yet! In that same chapter an earlier verse 51 says “O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.” The conflicting inaccuracies of the Koran allow for the private interpretation to read into it whatever one desires. That means people who follow the Koran can pretty much do what they want and claim it was commanded by Allah. Children are taught in the official grade school curriculum of Palestine that Israel doesn't have the right to exist on a map. Having the support of public education, terrorist leaders find it easy to turn children into suicide bombers with a love Allah and hatred for the infidels, generally Americans and their allies. The Koran says in verse 4:74 that those who fight for Allah will go to paradise. “Therefore let those fight in the way of Allah, who sell this world's life for the hereafter; and whoever fights in the way of Allah, then be he slain or be he victorious, We shall grant him a mighty reward.” These potential suicide bombers come from all socio-economic bases. They find meaning in hating infidels and loving Allah who promises a glorious paradise of 72 black eyed virgins.
There are many small, secret camps in the Middle East where terrorist leaders train their recruits. With minimal instruction and maximum brainwashing (that began in elementary school), they are taught to get past security, what targets are most effective to hit, how to use the explosives, and anything else that may be relevant to the mission. The tactics they use have blown up shops, restaurants, busses, and well as the two tallest buildings in the world. The daily terror plus the occasional high profile targets let us know that no place or person is completely safe.
The Islamic terrorists are without honor in the eyes of some other Muslims because the attack civilians in peacetime without warning. Conversely, in the eyes of the Japanese, all kamikazes were honorable. What is honorable versus what is un-honorable is almost always a matter of perspective .
Suicide bombing is part of a much bigger category called Unconventional Warfare. Unconventional warfare is where a country, army, or groups uses tactics in war that have not been seen before. Examples would be Hannibal using elephants against the Romans, the British using the smallpox against Indians, and Japanese kamikazes purposely crashing into American ships. Desperation is generally what starts this, forces that have no chance in a real battle like the Mongols, Palestinians, and Japanese navy find a way to turn their disadvantages into advantages using the resources they have at hand. No-matter how much we know or think we know of warfare, someone someday will think of new unconventional tactics to use.
Commentary:
The terror from kamikaze pilots and Islamic suicide bombers are the result of
becoming a slave to religious based deceptions. Only the Prince of Peace, Jesus,
can set one free for "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"
(John 8:36) as "perfect love casts out all fear" (1 John 4:18). Just
like a cultural outsider cannot understand kamikaze pilots and Islamic suicide
bombers, so to a non-Christian cannot understand the "peace which passes
understanding" (Phil. 4:7) that allows Christians to rejoice always (Philippians
4:4) and turn the other cheek. One terrorist leader told the truth when he proclaimed
the happiest day of his life would be when he would die as a martyr, for thereafter
he will suffer "great wailing and gnashing of teeth" in an everlasting
lake of fire (Revelation 20). God is just. Terrorists lose eternally.
Quick Quiz:
1. What country crashed their planes into American ships on purpose? B
a. Germany
b. Japan
c. China
d. Aztecs
2. What religion did most Japanese follow? C
a. Christen
b. Buddhism
c. Shinto
d. Muslim
3. Suicide bombers usually target ____. C
a. Military
b. Monkeys
c. Civilians
d. Aliens
4. True or False, All Muslims hate Americans and support the suicide bombers.
B
a. True
b. False
Bibliography
http://mtmt.essortment.com/kamikazeinforma_rglb.htm, anonymous, Copyright 2002
by PageWise, Inc
John Daly, http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jtsm/jtsm010917_1_n.shtml
Dr. David R. Reagan, http://www.lamblion.com/New08.php, Copyright © 1996-2004
Lamb & Lion Ministries
William P. Welty,http://islamcommentaries.com/commentary/2002/2002_1207.htm, 7 December 2002
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