Posted on 05/26/2016 4:33:33 AM PDT by Kaslin
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the December 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor that killed more than 2,400 Americans.
President Obama is visiting Hiroshima this week, the site of the August 6, 1945, dropping of the atomic bomb that helped end World War II in the Pacific Theater. But strangely, he has so far announced no plans to visit Pearl Harbor on the anniversary of the attack. The president, who spent much of his childhood in Hawaii, should -- given that many Americans have forgotten why the Japanese attacked the United States and why they falsely assumed that they could defeat the world's largest economic power.
Imperial Japan was not, as often claimed, forced into a corner by a U.S. oil embargo, which came only after years of horrific Japanese atrocities in China and Southeast Asia. Instead, an opportunistic and aggressive fascist Japan gambled that the geostrategy of late 1941 had made America uniquely vulnerable to a surprise attack.
By December 1, 1941, Nazi Germany, Japan's Axis partner, had reached the suburbs of Moscow. Japan believed that the German army would soon knock the Soviet Union out of the war.
Japan had also hedged its bets by signing a nonaggression pact with the Soviets. Japanese leaders assumed that even if communist Russia survived, Japan could avoid a costly land war on its rear flank. The U.S., not Japan, would likely have a two-front war.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
My takeaway from Pearl Harbor... Don’t trust a socialist to be president.
My take away from Pearl Harbor, is to make sure you know where large, potentially hostile, Navies are at all times.
Now why would obola want to remind everyone of Pearl Harbor when he has ceaselessly worked to recreate that very same military situation?
... a number of Japan's most accomplished officers and diplomats had visited or studied in the U.S. and had developed contempt for American popular culture ...
Many Japanese strategists had assumed that the U.S. never again would wish to endure a world war, and would prefer to negotiate rather than fight to the finish.
The road to Hiroshima and the massive loss of life in the Pacific was paved by unprovoked Japanese aggression at Pearl Harbor. Americans and their president should remember the lessons of that surprise attack 75 years ago this year.
Another history lesson from Dr Victor Davis Hanson. Probably an unheeded lesson.
I honestly cannot see much difference between the Unites States in May, 1941 and the dis-United States of May, 2001. There are a couple of differences that are huge;
In 1941, the nation had a President
In 1941, every one knew which restroom to use.
Unites = United
Oh horrors, I hit the wrong key and did not catch it before posting. The spelling Nazis will have their usual field day.
This is a misleading article. Obama, like every president before him, has in fact been to Pearl Harbor on its anniversary. It is almost a requirement. The Bush’s and Reagan all went once as well.
From what I have read, the offer has been extended to Abe in Japan to join him at the site this year.
Of course everyone did but what has that to do with the subject of the article?
Great post.
A picture (in this case, several) is worth a thousand words....
This is a misleading article. Obama, like every president before him, has in fact been to Pearl Harbor on its anniversary.
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Rant spoiler.
Knowing what we now know about broken Japanese radio codes I think there’s a lot of lessons out there concerning the “surprise” attack.
Robert Stinnett wrote a pretty damning book “Day of Deceit” using declassified radio intercepts. What is just as interesting in the intercepts we have access to is the evidence that we intercepted everything they put out from multiple stations, which was also used to triangulate fleet positions. It’s also interesting what is missing from the archives.
I’d like to suggest that Shinzo Abe watch the footage that still exists of Japanese doctors torturing and vivisecting civilians and prisoners of war.
My lesson from Pearl Harbor: If you are going stage a massive surprise attack on a larger, more populous, more industrialized opponent, don’t waste your time attacking the enemy forces. You need destroy the means of producing or replacing those forces - steel mills, ship yards, factories, etc.
If you can’t reach those resources, or make a significant dent in them with your sneak attack, Do Not Go To War with that enemy under any circumstance.
The USN could replace its losses at Pearl. Even if the Japs had got our carriers at Pearl Harbor, we could have replaced them. Eventually the Japanese would have lost. Once we decided to fight, there was no simply no “win” scenario left for the Japanese.
Lesson: If you can replace your losses and the enemy can’t, you win. Attack your enemies’ production and logistics.
They should have at least bombed the submarine base and the fuel depot.
They should have at least bombed the submarine base and the fuel depot.
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I think they really needed that fuel and they figured we would be so devastated we would just pack our bags and take the next steamer back to the mainland.
Like I am wont to remind all the ‘Anti Hiroshima’ types that if there weren’t a Pearl Harbor, chances are Hiroshima would have never happened.
The fuel farms and the PHNS should have been priority targets after the battle fleet was dispatched. Without the fuel farm, oil for our ships would have to have come from the West Coast to support our naval forces in the Hawaiian waters. The ship yard, it salvaged the damaged warships and served throughout the war repairing damaged war ships. That yard, got the Yorktown back in fighting condition in less than 48 hours. What would have been the outcome of Midway if Yorktown could not have been repaired in Hawaii.
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