Don Surber catches President Obama in yet another historical error, this time about the signing of the treaty with Japan that ended World War II. President Obama’s version:
Referring to Afghanistan, the president said: â€I’m always worried about using the word ‘victory,’ because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur.â€
What actually happened:
Um, no. The emperor stayed in Japan, as the photo clearly showed. MacArthur in fact protected Hirohito as a means of governing Japan through the postwar turmoil.
President Obama really needs to stay away from historical analogies. They’re just not his strong suit.
I’ve heard a lot of criticism of MacArthur for doing that, to – and not from Americans (usually it was from Japanese scholars).