I rather liked Jeff Kingston's Aug. 10 "War and reconciliation" overview of China's Nanjing massacre memorial, although I think he overrates the credibility of its victimist claims -- and underrates the need to revise histories that dwell on atrocities at the expense of understanding the regional and global dynamics that precipitated Japan's actions.
I also wonder if, as a teacher, he was disappointed that "Only one of the more than 100 research papers submitted in my classes on Nanjing expressed anything but condemnation and contrition." I would think that the purpose of research would be to transcend such simple emotions, which strike me as being no less extreme than denial.
william wetherall
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