Yeah, I had the same take on that book. It's almost as if the writer were straining to tag Americans with a crime that would balance off the tendency of the Japanese to behead & eat their prisoners.
As did I! I got really annoyed with his trying to justify the horrendous crimes of the Japanese in World War II.
Oh, and about that Tim Rice quote... while I respect the man for doing so, I wish he hadn't declined and stuck with us with Schwartz, who is notorious for his awful lyrics and gave us such subtle messages as "They're different from us, which means they must be evil!"