Replies

Uh, sorry, but "Tora, Tora, Tora," said that, not Yamamoto. He never made the statement. But your point is well taken.

Let's ALL go back to the forcing down of that American plane in China, shall we? Remember all the conservative hawks were clamoring for war and "making China pay?"

Bush quietly, almost embarrassingly, spoke of the Chinese as our "friends" and that this issue would be resolved. It finally was.

Then Bush dropped the other shoe. He sold a slew of weapons (although not Aegis class anti-missile ships) to Taiwan, but even more important, he announced that any attack on Taiwan would initiate immediate American involvement in defending Taiwan! Buh=bye "one China" policy. Attention, "friends": you do not screw us and get away with it.

I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, upon learning of the success of the attack on Pearl Harbor
http://worldwar2history.info/quotes/

Fleet Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto - December 7, 1941
"I fear that all I have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."
http://www.nhhouserepublicanalliance.org/notable_quotes.htm

http://if_i_could_only_fly.tripod.com/makotribute/id9.html

Yamamoto attended the Naval War College during the "teens" and later studied at Harvard University. As a Captain, he served as Naval Attache to the United States in 1925-28. In the late 1920s and during the 1930s, he held a number of important positions, many of them involved with Japanese naval aviation.
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/prs-for/japan/japrs-xz/i-yamto.htm

Isoruko Yamamoto was the one who said this. He knew what America's power was from being in America for so many years. Just because it was also quoted in a movie or two, doesn't change the fact he actually said it.

Then Bush dropped the other shoe. He sold a slew of weapons (although not Aegis class anti-missile ships) to Taiwan, but even more important, he announced that any attack on Taiwan would initiate immediate American involvement in defending Taiwan! Buh=bye "one China" policy. Attention, "friends": you do not screw us and get away with it.

Actually Bush quickly retrenched and declared there hadn't been a change in our China policy. He only said that the US will do "whatever it takes" to keep Taiwan safe, which doesn't quite kill the ambiguity over what we'll do if China attacks. And after 9/11 he had to go back to talking to China as if it were our partner.

The decision not to sell AEGIS radar - even though Taiwan had requested it - was yet another compromise made to limit the damage to US-China relations.

On top of that, Taiwan's expected attack submarines haven't materialized because Germany and Holland have refused our request to construct the boats on Taiwan's behalf - we no longer build diesel-electric subs ourselves. Have we punished Germany and Holland for placing China's interests before ours?

Post #10

(visualize British parliament) Hear, hear!!!