Happy New Year of the Snake (again)

Although it is still December 31 here in the U.S., rather than making this post at around 5:30 a.m., as I normally do, I am posting it at 9:00 (CST). This later time is midnight, the beginning of 2025, in Japan where I lived for so long. So it is now the Year of the Snake there, the same as in 2013.*¹  

People who are born in the Year of the Snake have positive character traits according to the Japanese (Chinese) zodiac. They are “deep thinkers, speak very little, and possess tremendous wisdom. They are fortunate in money matters and will always be able to obtain it.”*²

June and I are delighted to be expecting our third great-grandchild in May. We hope she will have the characteristics associated with those noted in the previous paragraph. Of course, there are also a few negative characteristics associated with each zodiac sign, so she will have to work to overcome those.

Consider what has happened in the Year of the Snake previously. While the snake does not have the strong negative connotations in Japan/China as it does in the West, awful things happened in the world in the Year of the Snake four times in the first half of the twentieth century.

The first Year of the Snake in the 1900s was in 1905. The Russo-Japanese War, which began in 1904, ended in a victory for Japan in September 1905. That war, fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan, resulted in 130,000 (or more) deaths, about 2/3 of them Japanese. 

Twelve years later, in 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and became embroiled in what was called the Great War then and World War I later.  As many as 8,000,000 soldiers and 13 million civilians died as a result of that war, although U.S. deaths were fewer than 120,000.

The next Year of the Snake was 1929. On October 29^th of that year, the Wall Street Crash marked the beginning of the worldwide Great Depression. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did not return to its peak close of September 1929 until November 1954. 

And then in 1941, twelve years later, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7 occurred. The next day President Roosevelt called that a “date which will live in infamy,” and the U.S. declared war on Japan. There were at least 60 million deaths in that war, about 3/4 of them civilians.*³

Fortunately, the years 1953, 1965, 1977, and 1989 were years with no notably horrific world events. But the first Year of the Snake in this century, 2001, was certainly a traumatic one for the U.S.

2025 will be a different sort of “year of the snake” in the U.S. “Snake in the grass” is a common English expression. Since in Japan snakes do not have a “bad” reputation, though, there is no similar Japanese phrase. A Japanese website says the English idiom means “an enemy disguised as a friend,” or “someone you can’t trust.”

On January 20, the 47^th POTUS will be inaugurated. While I am generally careful not to use unkind, pejorative language, I am only one among many who think that he and several of his Cabinet nominees can be legitimately characterized as “snakes in the grass.”

Candace Osmond is a “grammarist writer,” and she says (here) that a “snake in the grass” personality type refers to “someone who appears friendly and likable on the surface but has hidden agendas and will do anything to get what they want. They usually manipulate and deceive others to achieve their goals.”

Ms. Osmond gives no examples, but sadly, it seems hard to deny that the incoming President clearly exhibits that sort of personality, and some if not many of his nominees seem to have that trait also.

So, I wish you all the very best in the Year of the Snake, but I also urge you who are U.S. citizens to be careful not to be deceived by the “snakes in the grass” who will constitute what may well be a kakistocracy, that is, “a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous citizens.”

Since snakes repeatedly shed their skins, they are often seen as a symbol of regeneration in Japan. May this Year of the Snake be the beginning of the regeneration of good government here in the U.S.!

_____

*¹ I have written this article with little overlap to what I said in the post with the same name I made that year. Some of you may want to read that post (here) since many of you were not on my Thinking Friends mailing list then. The only comments on that post were from Craig Dempsey and Anton Jacobs, who are two of the three or four TFs who have commented most often over the past twelve years, and I much appreciate their many meaningful, thought-provoking comments.

*² From “The Twelve Signs of the Japanese Zodiac,” posted by Ms. Namiko Abe in June 2024 at this link. That article gives an explanation of all twelve of the animals included in the zodiac cycle in Japan. The same zodiac is used in China where the traditional lunar calendar is used, so the Chinese New Year won’t begin until January 29.

*³ These statistics come from the website of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans (see here). According to that source, the number of U.S. WWII deaths was under 420,000.

But What About Biden’s Support of Israel?

There are several reasons why President Biden’s re-election as POTUS is uncertain despite the undesirability of his only real opponent. In this post, I am dealing with only one of those, which is the main reason some people, including some of my Thinking Friends, say they cannot vote for Biden. 

Pres. Biden contemplating what to do about Gaza.

Why is Pres. Biden supporting Israel so strongly? This is a question many people, especially younger people, in the U.S. are asking. And most of those asking that question are quite critical of the President because of that support.

In contrast to Lord Tennyson’s well-known words, “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die,” concerning Israel’s retaliation against Hamas and the U.S. President’s support of that warfare, it is incumbent upon us to ask the reason why—and to ask why so many Palestinians have had to die.

The attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7, 2023, was an atrocious event, one not unfairly compared with the September 11, 2001, attack on the U.S. True, the deaths on 10/7 were around 40% of those on 9/11—but the population of Israel is only about 3% that of the U.S.

Do you remember the reaction of the U.S. government to those horrendous attacks on 9/11/01? On October 7 (in a remarkable coincidence of dates), the U.S. officially launched Operation Enduring Freedom against Afghanistan.

In that war which ended on August 30, 2021—an ending for which Biden has also often been strongly criticized—at least 175,000 (and probably far more) people were killed, including more than 46,000 civilians.

If that is how the U.S. first responded to 9/11 even though the attackers were not Afghans, it is not surprising that Israel responded with strong military action against Gaza, where most of the Hamas terrorists lived.

Support of Israel has been U.S. policy since 1948 when Israel became a nation, and the U.S. under Pres. Truman was the first to recognize that new nation, and this country has been Israel’s primary ally ever since.

Israel has been the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving about $300 billion (adjusted for inflation) in total economic and military assistance.

What else could Pres. Biden do but stand by an old ally? As I wrote in my blog post on Dec. 21 last year,

I don’t think Biden’s position is any different from what any other President’s would be, including Hillary Clinton (who could well have been nearing the end of her seventh year as President if it had not been for her inexplicable loss in 2016).

Near Election Day in 2016 when I thought Clinton’s election was assured, I wrote “an open letter to Madame President.” Among other things, I implored her to ease up on her support for Israel in order to lessen the injustice being done to the Palestinians.

Pres. Biden’s support of Israel has lessened over the months since last October, and his support for humanitarian aid for Gaza has increased notably.

Four weeks ago, Senator Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S. and a staunch ally of Israel, gave a powerful speech criticizing Prime Minister Netanyahu and called for new elections in Israel, for if held now, Netanyahu would most likely not be re-elected.

Pres. Biden praised Schumer’s speech. In contrast, it was also widely reported that leading Republican lawmakers were quite critical of it. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said the U.S. needs to stand with Israel and give its friend and ally its full support.

What would happen if Trump were President? Two weeks ago, Trump said he would have responded the same way as Israel did after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas but urged the country to “finish up” its offensive in Gaza and “get this over with.”*¹

On that same day, “U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, a Republican from Michigan who used to serve as a Baptist pastor, suggested at a town hall meeting during Holy Week that the Gaza Strip should be nuked.”*²

I certainly wish Pres. Biden—and the U.S. government—had a far less supportive position toward Israel and a far greater humanitarian position toward Gaza.

Hearing what Trump and the Republicans are saying, though, why would anyone think voting for them rather than Biden would be better for the Palestinians?*³

____________________________________________________________________

 *¹ This was widely reported in the news media; here is the link to what the Associated Press wrote.

*² Here is how my friend Brian Kaylor, president & editor-in-chief of Word&Way, continued, citing Walberg: “‘We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid,’ [Walberg] declared on March 25 after a constituent asked about the U.S. effort to build a port to deliver humanitarian aid to starving people in Gaza. ‘It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick.’” (Word&Way is a Christian [Baptist] media company based in Missouri since 1896.) 

*³ Please note my contention in the March 20 post that not voting or voting for a third party candidate, especially in swing states, increases the likelihood that Trump will be re-elected. 

Remembering 9/12

September 11, 2001, was what many have called “the day that changed America, ” and tomorrow, as you know, is the 20^th anniversary of those horrendous terrorist attacks. But I don’t remember 9/11/01, for I was living in Japan and didn’t know about the attacks until September 12. 

(A 9/12/01 photo by Frank Becerra Jr., The Journal News)

Speaking in Chapel on 9/12

While it was still Sept. 11 in Japan when the Twin Towers were hit and destroyed, it was after my bedtime and so it was only early the next morning that I heard that almost unbelievable news.

I got up early, as usual, with the intention of spending time on my final preparation for speaking at the regular Seinan Gakuin High School chapel service that morning. Upon hearing the horrible news from the U.S., though, I knew I would have to change my planned talk completely.

Even though I had been in Japan for many years, it still took a lot longer to prepare a talk/sermon in Japanese than in English—and there certainly wasn’t time that morning of 9/12 to make adequate preparation.

I haven’t been able to find the notes for my chapel talk that morning—and I might be embarrassed to see what I said, or didn’t say. But I did the best I could at the time.

After the chapel service was over, I chatted a few minutes with Manabe-sensei, the high school principal. I remember him saying that what he was most afraid of now were acts of revenge by the U.S.—and I agreed with him.

Seeking Revenge after 9/12

On 9/14, Pres. Bush vowed that the U.S. would take military action in retaliation for the terrorist attacks. Then on 9/18, he signed a congressional resolution authorizing the use of force against those responsible for the attacks.

Before a month had passed, on October 7 U.S. forces begin bombing the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Retaliation had begun—and Principle Manabe was right: the acts of revenge have been far, far worse than the horrible events of 9/11.

The total number of people killed in the attacks of 9/11/01 is given as 2,997. The total number of people killed in Afghanistan since 10/7/01 is said (here) to be over 240,000. Retaliation ended with roughly 80 times (!) the death toll from the 9/11 attacks.

Leaving Afghanistan in 8/2021

Just a few days more than 238 months after the U.S. began military actions against the “enemy” in Afghanistan, the U.S. withdrew all military service members, other USAmericans, and tens of thousands of Afghan “friends.”

This has widely been called a “defeat” for the U.S.—and Pres. Biden has been strongly criticized for the hectic withdrawal not only by Republicans but by many in his own Party.

The war in Afghanistan might have been considered a success if it had ended in 2002. The major goal had been reached. But the war didn’t end then. It dragged on for 19 more years, perhaps partly (or largely?) because of the military-industrial complex. Some people profited handsomely from the war.  

The bombing in Kabul on August 26 which killed 13 U.S. soldiers and more than 170 Afghans was tragic indeed. And the current danger facing the few USAmericans and many Afghan friends of the U.S. left in Afghanistan is certainly distressing.

But undoubtedly, many more U.S. military personnel and Afghans would be killed in the months/years ahead had the U.S. troops remained.

It is remarkable that there seems to be more outrage over the fewer than 200 who were killed in Afghanistan the last week in August this year than over the average of more than 1,000 a month for the last 238 months!

We do need to be concerned about the oppressed people, especially women—and Christians—in Afghanistan as well as in North Korea, Syria, and many more countries with harsh governments. But one thing is certain: war is not the answer to the problems in Afghanistan or any other country.  

_____

** Here are some of the helpful opinion pieces I read with profit and recommend to those who are interested in thinking more about this matter.

“Yes, the Kabul withdrawal is a disaster. But Biden made the right decision on Afghanistan” by Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart on 8/22.

This opinion piece by David Leonhardt in The New York Times on 8/25.

Biden Deserves Credit, Not Blame, for Afghanistan by David Rothkopf in The Atlantic, 8/30.

When Will It End?

Tomorrow is September 11, and for twelve years now just hearing “9/11” has evoked horrifying memories of the terrorist attacks on the U.S. Those dastardly attacks triggered the War on Terror by the U.S., a “war” that continues to this day.

President Bush first used the words “war on terror” on Sept. 20, 2001, and that war officially began 17 days later, on Oct. 7, with the invasion of Afghanistan. Now called “Operation Enduring Freedom,” the war in Afghanistan continues and is now the longest war in U.S. history.

In his State of the Union address in February of this year, President Obama declared that “by the end of next year, our war in Afghanistan will be over.” While that plan seems to have strong support in the citizenry and pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan will likely take place as scheduled, that won’t mean an end to the War on Terror.

The burning question is: when will it end?

After seeing the movie “Dirty Wars” this summer, I had the sick feeling that there would most likely not be an end to the War on Terror during my lifetime (which I am expecting to be at least another 15 years).

Back in May, the President declared that the War on Terror “must end.” But several Republican Senators, as well as a majority of U.S. citizens, disagreed with him.

Sen. John McCain, for example, blasted the President’s declaration that the war on terror must end as premature and foolhardy, saying that a desire to bring the war “to a compete closure contradicts the reality of the facts on the ground” and declaring that “al Qaeda will be with us for a long time.”

June has often said to me that the military actions of the U.S. in Afghanistan in 2001, in Iraq in 2003, and then in many small-scale actions, such as drone attacks in Pakistan and Yemen, have been like hitting hornets’ nests. Retaliatory strikes have stirred up more and more hatred toward the U.S. (This is depicted well in this recent cartoon in The Economist.)

 And now there is Syria. Even though point it does not seem to be a part of the war on terror as such, President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry are urging military action against Syria mainly because of its alleged use of chemical weapons.

A recent Pew Research Center poll, though, indicated that only 29% of the American adults surveyed favor a U.S. airstrike on Syria and 48% oppose such a strike. (The others were undecided.)

Nearly three-quarters (74%) of those polled think that U.S. airstrikes would likely create a backlash (stir up more hornets) against the United States and its allies in the region.

Nevertheless, last week the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, by a 10-7 vote, passed a resolution approving a military strike against Syria. It also set a 60-day deadline for the use of force in Syria, with an option for an additional 30 days.

This week the President is making strong appeals to Congress and to the American people, encouraging support for military force against the Assad regime in Syria.

But even if approved by Congress (which may not happen), or even if a strike is launched without congressional approval (which might happen), would such military action end within 90 days? Perhaps, but quite possibly not.

Let us pray that some good alternative to a missile strike, which now seems somewhat possible, will be implemented.

The Purpose of Remembering

“September 11, 2001  Never Forget!” Those are the words of the opening slide of a YouTube presentation of 9/11 photos declassified in 2009 and widely circulated last week around the tenth anniversary of that terrible tragedy. (For those of you who haven’t seen those sobering photos, the link is here.)

This past weekend there was repeated emphasis on remembering the terrorist attacks. But for what reason? What is the purpose of remembering?

One important reason to remember past catastrophes, of course, is in honor of the many people who were victims of the attacks. Remembering the deceased, as well as remembering and offering condolences to their families, is certainly a commendable thing to do.

To remember for the sake of preventing similar tragedies in the future is also of great importance. Working to prevent future atrocities is perhaps as important as binding up the wounds from past acts of violence.

Eric Freed, a Catholic priest who teaches at Humboldt State University in California, wrote “Purpose of Remembering,” which was published in The Japan Times in August 2009. Fr. Freed said, “My understanding of the Japanese response to Hiroshima is that it is remembered in order to understand the profoundness of the tragedy and to prevent the tragedy from ever happening again.”

In an e-mail from Dr. E. Glenn Hinson, one of my Thinking Friends I hear from most often, wrote, “If we remembered in the same way the horrors such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I think the world would become a better place. We don't need memories to rev up our national hubris.”

Fr. Freed went on to write about the appropriateness of remembering on the part of those involved with the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Then he says, “As Americans we have frequently remembered in order to get vindication. ‘Remember the Alamo,’ ‘Remember the Maine,’ ‘Remember Pearl Harbor,’ ‘Remember 9/11.’ These are the slogans that we have taken to wars.” Indeed.

This past Sunday morning I had the privilege of hearing Dr. Miroslav Volf speak. He is a theology professor at Yale Divinity School, and his lecture was based largely on his book The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (2006).

In his book, Dr. Volf mentions the possibility of remembering sadistically, “guided by a vindictive desire to repay evil for evil” (p. 11). In “Memory: A Shield and a Sword,” the second chapter, he reminds us that “the protective shield of memory” can easily “morph into a sword of violence” (p. 33).

But Dr. Volf encourages us to remember “rightly” in order that “memory may become a bridge between adversaries instead of a deep and dark ravine that separates them” (p. 35).

Ironically, Dr. Volf was speaking in New York City on reconciliation at the very time of the terrorist attacks on the morning of 9/11/01. With this, and other atrocities in mind, in the Afterword of his book he contends that “the proper goal of the memory of wrong suffered – its appropriate end – is the formation of the communion of love between all people, including victim and perpetrators” (p. 232).

Amen.

Remembering 9/11 – 1973

In recent days, and continuing through tomorrow, there have been numerous newspaper articles and radio & TV programs about the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01. Since there is already so much in the media this week about the tenth anniversary of those attacks, I decided to write about events on 9/11 twenty-eight years earlier, in 1973.

As horrific as 9/11/01 was, and with respect for the victims’ families, I am writing about 9/11/73 partly to help us realize that we in this country are not the only ones to have been victims of terror.

Salvadore Allende (b. 1908) was elected president of the South American country of Chile in 1970. That was an attention-grabbing occurrence, for he was the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in the Americas.

Allende’s election was of grave concern to U.S. political leaders—and to the many U. S. companies (especially IT&T and the Anaconda and Kennecott Copper companies) with heavy investments in Chile.

The U.S. government, as well as the U.S. companies, spent millions of dollars trying to keep Allende from being elected. Having failed to prevent his election, they began to work for his overthrow. President Nixon reportedly told Richard Helms, the Director of the CIA, to do whatever was necessary “to get rid of” Allende.

Although it was denied for years, it became clear, especially after certain documents were declassified in 1998, that the CIA and U.S. companies were involved behind the scenes in the overthrow of the Allende government on 9/11/73 and that they directly supported the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet (1915-2006), who led the coup d’etat.

President Allende apparently died by suicide on that 9/11, choosing that means of death rather than the imprisonment, torture, and likely execution that would have occurred when his government was overthrown by military violence.

There were around 3,000 deaths caused by the terrorists on 9/11/01. The events in Chile on 9/11/73 began a period of terror for many Chileans (as well as for some North Americans and other foreigners living in Chile) that resulted in an even greater number of deaths there.

As late as 2000, a BBC newscast said, “According to an official report, more than 3,000 people were killed under General Pinochet’s regime and more than 1,000 are still unaccounted for.”

A few days ago (for at least the third time) I watched Missing, the 1982 movie starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. That sad movie is based on the true story of Charles Horman (1942-1973), an American journalist who was one of the victims of the 9/11/73 coup in Chile.

Not only were thousands of Chileans killed by the ruthless military junta and government led by Pinochet, at least three North Americans “disappeared” (were executed) as well. Horman was one of those, killed eight days after the coup, even though his death was not acknowledged until weeks later.

So, today and tomorrow as we once again grieve the death and destruction caused by the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, let us also remember the many Chilean, as well as some American, families who still grieve their loss because of the events of another 9/11.