Betrayed by the White House
Last month, Congress overwhelmingly approved a provision, added to a spending bill, that would have prevented federal agencies from opposing civil lawsuits by former prisoners of war against Japanese individuals or corporations. The White House succeeded in having the provision struck in a conference committee; the Bush administration feared it might interfere with gathering international support for the war on terrorism. A week later, on the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Bush and his father paid glowing tribute to the memory of World War II veterans. The president compared the Sept. 11 tragedy to Japan's surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941, while his father announced that "duty, honor, country" still prevail.

This behavior reveals a stunning double standard. The United States government aggressively supported claims of European victims of wartime forced labor. The end result was a $5.2 billion fund to settle claims. But for American victims in the Pacific Theater the United States has taken the side of Japanese companies — including Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Nippon Steel — against the roughly 5,000 Americans still alive of the 36,000 servicemen used as slave labor during World War II.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/24/opinion/24CHAN.html?todaysheadlines