Today is Dec. 7 and the 65th anniversary of the Japanese Empire’s signing its own death warrant with the Imperial Japanese Navy’s preemptive strike attack on Pearl Harbor.
The WaPo ran a piece on reconciliation between the survivors of the attack and the Japanese who participated in it.
The USS Arizona, meanwhile, apparently still has missions to fulfill.
The best summary ever written about the attack (IMHO) comes from the administrator of one of my favorite websites, the “Imperial Japanese Navy Page”:
I’m not going to bother writing much on this one; we all know the deal. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of Combined Fleet, put together a brilliant operational plan, and we were caught sleeping. Result: we got our butts handed to us. The only bright spot in the whole debacle was that the commander of Japan’s carrier force Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, failed to launch the follow-up strikes which might have completely wrecked the base’s machine shops and fuel depots, thus providing the US Pacific fleet with some logistical breathing room. The other thing I will say is that I’ve never been particularly indignant about the fact that the Japanese failed to declare war on us before the bombs started falling. Hey, they tried, but it just didn’t quite work out. And after all, the world community hadn’t evidenced any indignity over their declaring war on the Russians in 1905 after they had already commenced hostilities. Likewise, nobody told the Egyptians that the Israeli Air Force was gonna bushwhack them in ‘67, either, and we still think the Israeli’s are the good guys, right? Welcome to warfare.
Victor Davis Hanson has an essay up at Townhall discussing Pearl Harbor’s relevancy to our own times—some of you will like it, some won’t.
As for my own views, I’m not sure how much Pearl Harbor really applies to what we’re experiencing now. Frankly, it’s the differences between Dec. 7, 1941 and Sept. 11, 2001—and the wars that followed—which appear more relevant. One was a tactically brilliant but strategically suicidal sneak attack by a territorially defined state on a military target. The other was a tactically brilliant sneak attack on (mostly) civilian targets by a non-state entity that—given the complicated politics, lack of political will to do to the Middle East what we did to Japan and the obvious advantages to NOT being a territorially defined state—might have made much more strategic sense. Or so time will tell.
Nevertheless, if Pearl Harbor taught us anything, it’s that despite glaring gaps in national power, weaker states can—and sometimes do—miscalculate and do incredibly stupid things to states much, much larger than themselves. This is something we should always keep in mind when facing the threats of the post-Cold War world.
12 Comments
Incendently Happy Birthday Dad. The family joke was his birth on December 7, 1941 started a war.
Most of my neighbors here in Rio Linda, California have their Christmas lights blazing, but not me. I won’t put them up until after December 7th. Never have. Never will.
Dram> My wife is 5 days overdue. I am very anxious for her to give birth, but will be OK if the baby does not share a birthday with your Dad.
Global missile defense.
It’s amazing how today US-Japan relations are so strong, and relations with our Chinese and Korean ‘brothers’ are less than perfect. The difference a few years can make.
Letters From Iwo Jima opens this weekend in Japan. I hope to see it, but my teachers are doing their best to make sure no one sees any movies this weekend by increasing the work load in preparation for winter vacation. :/
In honor of this article, I decided to write a short play:
Everyone is driving through the lovely town known as 21st Century. Unfortunately, that wacky Wingnut has the steering wheel.
Everyone else in the car: Hey Wingnut, where we going?
Wingnut: “Stay the course. Stay the course”
Everyone else: But we went down the wrong street!
Wingnut: “Stay the course. Stay the course”
Everyone else: This street ends in a brick wall! AHHH!
Wingnut: “Stay the course. Stay the course”
Everyone else: OH MY GOD! THERE’S NOTHING BUT AN ENDLESS VOID ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS WALL!!
Wingnut: “Stay the course. Stay the course.”
Oh, what other socio-political hijinks can we expect from that wacky Wingnut? I don’t know, but Harry the Homosexual better get the meth ready! Wakka-wakka!
“One was a tactically brilliant but strategically suicidal sneak attack by a territorially defined state on a military target. The other was a tactically brilliant sneak attack on (mostly) civilian targets by a non-state entity that—given….”
unfortunately for us, it was strategically brilliant as well on Osama’s part.
You should check out War Nerd’s take on Victor Hanson.
guys nothing they did was brilliant there was so many damn lights and alarms that we ignored which could have prevented it
we are victims of our own political correct complacent attitudes
i mean how many movies have plots based on terrorists hijacking planes with deadly chemicals on board who want to kill as many americans as possible
or what about the Peace Maker when our anti-war hero george clooner was a special forces LTC tasked with saving NYC from a serbian terrorist
and then there is “the seige” with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis regarding terrorist cells in NYC.
they blow up a bus, they blow up FBI headquarters and eventually the govt puts NYC under martial law
i mean for godsake they attacked the WTC in 93 and for the next 7 years of slick willie’s administration they attacked american interests and planned 9/11
it was not a sneak attack it was completing and unfinished job
Seems to me that Pearl Harbor and 9/11 demonstrate an unlimited capacity to be surprised by the obvious…and then to deny that anything was obvious.
The next iteration is again obvious, but we are more concerned about a few ounces of innocuous liquid and nail clippers on airplane flights.
Why is that??
(One nice irony of Pearl Harbor is that Yamamoto was the one who was not surprised by what followed…)
And Marmot, your final comment is very well-taken, and quite distressing to anyone with an interest in peace in Korea.
“Seems to me that Pearl Harbor and 9/11 demonstrate an unlimited capacity to be surprised by the obvious…and then to deny that anything was obvious.”
What’s so obvious about Pearl Harbor?
See here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P.....dge_debate
http://www.whatreallyhappened......pearl.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....Id=1145527
Obviously, the last source, NPR, is the most credible and balanced.