顺便，也就是韩战爆发后，麦帅对于日本发动太平洋战争的“侵略性质”有了改观。1951年5月3日他在美国参议院军事外交联合委员会上被问及他对日本发动的战争的责任的问题时回答：“" Yes sir. In the Pacific we bypassed them. We closed in. You must understand that Japan had an enormous population of nearly 80 million people, crowded into 4 islands. It was about half a farm population. The other half was engaged in industry. Potentially the labor pool in Japan, both in quantity and quality, is as good as anything that I have ever known. Some place down the line they have discovered what you might call the dignity of labor, that men are happier when they are working and constructing than when they are idling. This enormous capacity for work meant that they had to have something to work on. They built the factories, they had the labor, but they didn't have the basic materials. There is practically nothing indigenous to Japan except the silkworm. They lack cotton, they lack wool, they lack petroleum products, they lack tin, they lack rubber, they lack a great many other things, all which was in the Asiatic basin. They feared that if those supplies were cut off, there would be 10 to 12 million people unoccupied in Japan. Their purpose, therefore, in going to war was largely dictated by security. "
占领期间日本没有进出口自主权，所有原料必须通过美国途径进口。日本经济恢复到1940年的水平，是在美军撤走，日本重新获得在国际市场上采购原料的权利以后，才做到的。日本人因勤奋耐劳钻研认真才有日本经济的腾飞。二战后美国对欧洲经济复兴有马歇尔计划有官方物资支援。而对日本没有贷款也没有官方支援。懂得感恩的日本人现在经常拿出来称颂的所谓战后美国对日本的食品等支援，其实是日裔美国人（就是二战中被美国关进集中营的那些日裔）组织的民间社团Licensed Agencies for Relief in Asia(LARA)
