“After Imperial Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, Douglas MacArthur became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, rebuilding Japan during the Allied occupation. MacArthur secretly granted immunity to the physicians of Unit 731 in exchange for providing America with their research on biological warfare.
The United States believed that the research data was valuable because the Allies had never publicly conducted or condoned such experiments on humans due to moral and political revulsion. The United States also did not want other nations, particularly the Soviet Union, to acquire data on biological weapons, not to mention the military benefits of such research.”
– Wikipedia page on Unit 731
The excerpt is about the infamous Unit 731, a covert chemical and biological warfare research and development unit in Japan that was run by the Imperial Japanese army. The unit was responsible for some of the most horrendous Japanese war crimes committed during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and WWII (1939-1945).
What is even more alarming about the above excerpt is the secret immunity granted by MacArthur to the perpetrators of the violation, instead of having them persecuted as should have been the case, just so the United States of America gained a significant edge over the Soviet Union. Does this mean that if Oppenheimer had decided to stay back in Germany, that if Adolf Hitler had built the nuclear missile before Roosevelt or Truman, MacArthur would have granted him immunity in exchange for the nuclear tecchnology? Further, to quote: “The United States believed that the research data was valuable because the Allies had never publicly conducted or condoned such experiments on humans due to moral and political revulsion.” Is that the only basis for the non-performance of such activities? Mustn’t the abhorrence toward the very idea be based upon the much more empathetic viewpoint of respecting humanity as a whole? In fact, in the same article, it has been mentioned that the only trials involving the staff at Unit 731 were conducted by the Soviet Union, whose soldiers had been captured for the sole purpose of being guinea pigs in the unit.
I’m not well versed in policy formation and conflict research and what not, but I don’t think it takes a scholar here to see that the USA betrayed the whole world when it pardoned those criminals, that the USA granted immunity that was not its to grant at all.
Clathration Therapy 