In a new collection of previously published essays, including that op-ed, John Dower argues that remembering inevitably involves neglecting and forgetting, which can lead to such misuses. His work, he said, should have led President Bush to the opposite conclusion.
He cited the work of historian John Dower, the pre-eminent scholar of postwar Japan, who promptly published an op-ed to protest a misuse of history. Bush argued that an occupation could work because history provided an example in a non-Christian, non-white, non-Western country: the United States' occupation of Japan during World War II. In 2003, in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, President George W. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering Subtitle Japan in the Modern World Author John W.