Yesterday, President Bush declared that today’s war in Iraq and wherever terrorists may be found is as great, as desperate, as inevitable as the World War II struggle to defeat fascist Japan 60 years ago.

The 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II conflict with Japan, VJ Day, was actually two weeks ago, on August 14th. But never mind, President Bush used the occasion to wrap the Iraq war on the mantle of the Great War.

Is the current occupation of Iraq similar to the Allied Occupation of Japan 60 years ago?

Guests:

Linda Feldman, White House reporter for The Christian Science Monitor

Herbert Bix, Professor of history at SUNY Binghamton, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning book book, “Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan”

David Kennedy, professor of history at Stanford University, author of “Over Here: The First World War and American Society”

Graham Allison, professor of government at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University,, author of
“Nuclear Terrorism : The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe”

Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School