Posted on 04/17/2017 7:37:05 AM PDT by SpeedyInTexas
Some sixty-eight years before U.S. special forces killed Osama bin Laden, America conducted an assassination of another kind.
This time, the target wasn’t a terrorist. It was the Japanese admiral who planned the Pearl Harbor operation. But the motive was the same: payback for a sneak attack on the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
Sadly, he was the best hope for negotiating a peace rather than dragging out the war for a few more years. He had warned in advance that if a deal wasn’t struck within six months after Pearl Harbor, Japan would lose the war. He knew our industrial might would grind them down, and Japan had no chance of winning a war outright.
Six months after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese fleet suffered a crushing defeat at Midway, and was ground down as he predicted.
Agreed, not an assassination. He was a naval officer flying in a military aircraft, on a military mission, and got shot down.
It was war. I prefer ‘strategically eliminated’ over ‘assasination’.
I remember reading a book on this years ago. IIRC there was a lot of questions on whether the mission should proceed since it was feared that it might tip the Japanese that we broke their code. But they went ahead with it anyway.
The Americans knew where Yamamoto would be because they had broken the Japanese code. Quite risky in that the Japanese could have put 2 and 2 together, and realized that their code was compromised.
In a way, this was sad. Yamamoto was doing what he had to as a military leader, but he respected the US. In fact, I’d put money on the fact that Yamamoto was much much more of a friend of the Us than Dorkbama the Muslim eunuch.
Not to mention much more intelligent, honorable, educated, and capable.
Bin Laden’s death was meaningless. He was a sick old man watching porn. Yamamoto’s was a massive blow.
That was back in the days when the United States actually won wars.
Why would there be? It was total war, and the USA used to be about winning wars. Our wars now are not existential wars, but tweaks to the empire and mostly domestic political contests.
As I remember the story, the P-38 was the only plane available with the range to intercept Yamamoto.
Surgical strike
Too bad we didn’t expend that effort to get Tojo.
Of course they targeted Yamamoto.
He was a high value military target flying in a military aircraft on a military mission.
it wasn’t an assassination in a murderous sense. It was a military operation.
So, I guess Generals/Admirals are off limits now?
Not to mention much more intelligent, honorable, educated, and capable.
I agree. I've always admired Yamamoto as a military genius. It has always seemed a shame that his knowledge and capabilities were lost.
Jeez. Yamamoto was part of one of the most vicious imperialistic regimes in the world. He carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor. He wanted Japan to rule the world as much as any Japanese did. He was afraid of our industrial might. He wasn’t our friend. Killing him was a great idea.
“Bin Laden’s death was meaningless”
Not to argue, but his death had meaning. Justice was served.
Exactly.
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