True repentance is hard to come by. To refute the claims by Asian pacifists and NGO movements worldwide, and to pre-empt the presentation of HR121 a House of Representatives resolution calling on Tokyo to "formally acknowledge, apologise, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner" over the coercion of women into sex slavery during World War II, a group of Japanese lawmakers took to the trouble and sponsored a full-page ad in the Washington Post last week, categorically denying that the Japanese government and the Imperial Army had a hand in conscripting "comfort women", an euphemism for military prostitutes.

In the ad, the high-ranking politicians insist that "there was no proof that so-called comfort women were forced into sex slavery, and comfort women were treated well."

The resolution is scheduled to be presented before the House at the end of this month. The interesting fact in this episode is that HR-121 was proposed by Mike Honda, a congressman of Japanese origin, who hopes to do his part to educate the Japanese nation "about this horrible crime".

Honda's righteous move is laudable, a sharp contrast to the audacity of the rightwing politicians who are bent on whitewashing the shameless role of the military authorities during the Pacific War.

The latest sign is that the defiant act of the Japanese has backfired, as more and more congressmen/women are now prepared to come off the fence and take a stand, much to the chagrin of the diehard nationalists in the Japanese Diet.

Anyway, it is pointless for the Japanese politicians to try to subvert history. On this, a well-researched report by Amnesty International two years ago is educative and instructive.

No apology

It would be wrong to accuse the current administration under the premiership of Shinzo Abe of doing nothing to that effect. In mid April this year, the government of Japan said in a statement that it accepted the 1948 rulings of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East that found Japanese soldiers had coerced women into prostitution

Although some have interpreted it as signalling a new course of the Abe administration with regard to the highly controversial and sensitive issue, the timing of the statement remains questionable, as it came just days before the prime minister was about to commence his first official visit to Washington.

And at his meeting with President George W Bush in the White House, Abe did apologise to the president over the coerced prostitution in an attempt to forestall the incoming political storm in Capitol Hill.

That was bizarre, for neither Bush nor anyone in his family has been a victim of the horrendous crime.

But what was more absurd was Bush's acceptance of the apology, calling the issue a "regrettable chapter in the history of the world".

In fact, the Bush administration, with its appalling record of military adventure in Iraq, has no moral high ground whatsoever to champion the cause of the forced prostitutes.

What is more, a recent review by the Associated Press of historical documents and records reveals that even the Americans were complicit in the enslavement of women in the aftermath of WWII.

The newly translated documents clearly show that the US military authorities "permitted the official brothel system to operate despite internal reports that women were coerced into prostitution". This was in addition to the fact that the Americans had had full knowledge of Japan's "atrocious treatment of women in countries across Asia" during the war.

Tangible benefits

The AP review , carried by major newspapers worldwide, goes on to say that "the brothels were rushed into operation" after the war and "tens of thousands of women were employed to provide cheap sex to US troops until the spring of 1946", when General MacArthur ordered an end to the abhorrent practice.

Such allegations have undoubtedly undermined further the moral authority of the Bush government and its cohort of neo-cons. US apologists have in the past rode on a moral storm by calling for the Japanese government to own up to the nation's darkest past, but are still choosing to remain conspicuously silent on the sin of the American military. After all, staying friendly with the Americans has brought them immense "prestige" real or illusory - and tangible benefits.

Hypocrisy of this nature will only harden the obstinacy of the Japanese nationalists, who will surely turn around and shout "tu quoque" at any call by the Americans for them to face up to history.

Meanwhile, the US Navy is reportedly preparing a counterstatement that the US military had requested the help of the Japanese authorities in setting up "comfort stations to prevent US soldiers from raping after its occupation of Japan in 1945". The tussle between the opposing rightwing forces of the two countries is not over yet.

There is even wind of Hilary Clinton being pushed to make the "comfort women" issue part of her campaign manifesto. Let's just hope that more truths will be uncovered while the politicians are busy scoring points across the Pacific Ocean.