Not sometimes cruel but...

This is in response to the letter of Ina Sumarsono (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 31, 1995).

I did not write "sometimes cruel," but wrote "I admit the fact that the Japanese armies had done various cruelties to the Indonesians." But the editor changed the sentence to "sometimes cruel," maybe out of politeness to the Japanese.

I know about Mandor, Romusha, etc. Therefore, I have no wish to argue with Ina Sumarsono.

TSUYOSHI MATSUMOTO

Jakarta