Your Views On Unit 731?

I'm working on a business report on chemical warfare and if it's a viable business for private military...I came across a Japanese branch called Unit 731.  I knew about Unit 731 back in HS, but never really dove into it. 

One hand, what happened was wrong and people died.  However, they paved the road for modern medicine.  Business wise, going into chemical warfare is more efficient than sending men into a hot zone to get killed.  But then again, some people say it's morally wrong. 

I dunno, anyone else have opinions of Unit 731?  I'd be happy to hear them and mention some solid views in my report.

EDIT:  I asked a handful of students from Keio University, Waseda, and Todai...almost all of them never heard of it.  I find this odd, but not surprising considering all of 1920-1950 is blank in the history books here.

Paved the road for modern medicine?

They injected horse urine into people, and hung them upside down to see how long it would take them to die. Let's not even get into the concious vivisections.

Modern medicine would be exactly where it is today without the "help" of Unit 731.

These people were not researching medicine, they were making nasty weapons.

Totally unethical and horrible, in the same boat as Nazi 'research' in my opinion. And people wonder why the Chinese hate the Japanese. 

I am in no way saying what they did was right.  However, there's a reason why all the USA doctors and scientists were willing to let the Japanese go without trial.  Even their journals say that what the Japanese did was pure research that no other country would be willing to do.  This was information in it's most concrete form, and can't be done in most countries due to legal issues. 

So for people saying they didn't advance medicine, just keep in mind Japan was the best at medicine during WW2...they did push the industry forward.

I'm sorry, it's a ludicrous argument and a deplorable justification for such inhumanity.  Additionally, the reason Japanese "researchers" were given immunity had nothing to do with any medical benefits.  Rather, much like the German rocket scientists who also escaped trial, their knowledge was used in preparation for the next war...the one with the Russians.  Don't delude yourself into believing that there was anything altruistic in the leniency provided them.  The West was fearful of the Russian Bear and wanted to make sure it had every possible military advantage should an engagement with the Soviets occur.   Under a wave of pervasive paranoia, any advantage science could provide, regardless of how it was acquired, was accepted no questions asked.  If there is a reason why the Germans received harsher treatment it is because of the glaring obviousness of the Holocaust.  Film and first person reports of stacks of Jewish and Slavic bodies could not be ignored.  However, American propaganda had spent years dehumanizing the Japanese, and inadvertently, all Asians as result.  As such, it was easier for white America to stomach Japanese atrocities since they were committed against other Asians.  

>_>  Valid point, but as you said...it was because of the coming cold war.  We needed the Japanese information incase Russia decided to attack first. 

A lot of people died in Nanking, and at the hands of Unit 731...it wasn't legal by any means.  However, it was war...and it is a shame they weren't hit with war crimes.