Military Review English Edition July-August 2016 | Page 129

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Response to Col. David HunterChester, “The Particular
Circumstances of Time and Place
Why the Occupation of
Japan Succeeded and the
Occupation of Iraq Failed”
(Military Review, May–June 2016)

William Thayer

I

think this was a good article, but let me add a
few things that I think are critically important.
First, in Iraq (and throughout the Middle East),
there is a Sunni-Shiite religious divide that has been
hostile for 1,400 years. There was no such similar
divide in Japan (e.g., Shinto vs. Buddhist).
Second, as the author points out, Japan had some
time with a democracy. There has never been a democracy in Iraq, and the expectation that such a democracy
could be developed within a year was totally unrealistic.
Third, when the Japanese surrendered, they all
surrendered. There was no additional fighting or

MILITARY REVIEW  July-August 2016

killing. In contrast, after the Saddam Hussein ouster,
the fighting and killing got worse.
Fourth, in Japan, the United States did not have
to fight nonuniformed terrorists. In Iraq, the United
States did have to fight terrorists targeting both the
U.S. and Sunni/Shiite populations.
The United States has not learned to fight the
nonuniformed terrorists well. It did better against the
German Werewolves with the Fragebögen (questionnaires) and other techniques. There should be a
similar article on Germany vs. Iraq.

William Thayer, San Diego, California

127