"Remember Pearl Harbor!"

[babsbunny]

http://www.truthout.org/120708A

Sunday 07 December 2008

by: John Lamperti, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. (Photo: National Archive and Records Administration)

"Pre-emptive" war, then and now.

The name Pearl Harbor resonates in American history; it is synonymous with the U.S. entry into World War II. It stands for tragedy - and for treachery. On December 7, 1941, Japanese carrier-based aircraft attacked United States naval and air forces in the Hawaiian Islands, and scored a major victory. Over 2,300 U.S. military personnel lost their lives - almost half of them when the battleship Arizona was blown up and sunk by bombs and torpedoes. The U. S. Pacific fleet was devastated.<1> The next day President Franklin Roosevelt called for a declaration of war, and described December 7, 1941, and the Japanese attack as "a date which will live in infamy."

But why, exactly, was the Pearl Harbor attack "infamous"? The Japanese planes attacked strictly military targets and there were relatively few civilian casualties.<2> The battle was a terrible blow for the American forces, which were taken completely by surprise. But a surprise attack is not infamous in wartime; every military commander would like to attack by surprise if possible. Nor did the bitter facts of U.S. defeat and heavy losses make the raid criminal. President Roosevelt used the word "infamy" because the raid was an act of military aggression. Until that moment Japan and the United States were not at war, although their conflicting interests had been threatening to boil over. The attack turned a dispute into a war; Pearl Harbor was a crime because the Japanese struck first.

[anonymous171]

1. Before Bush "Doctrine," pre-emptive war was considered a bad thing.

[Historic NY]

2. we never do....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4603378&mesg_id=4603378

[Xipe Totec]

3. Baghdad & Tenochtitlán, Historical Parallels

Sat Nov-06-2004

On the day we invaded Iraq I ended a friendship over this issue. This is the text of the last letter I sent her. Somehow, knowing that I was right, has not cleared the taste of ashes and gall from my mouth. I am so ashamed of what we have done. And heartbroken that nearly half my countrymen still cannot see the horror:


March 23, 2003

I deeply regret to hear that you agree with this bellicose position. How many atrocities will we tolerate now and point to 9/11 as an excuse? We've already leveled Afghanistan. Now we're leveling Iraq, which even our own intelligence sources say has no links to Al Qaeda. We've launched a preemptive war against Iraq losing all claim of moral superiority over Imperial Japan for attacking Pearl Harbor.

more at link...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2624110&mesg_id=2624296

[petersjo02]

4. I was born that day.

Now 67. Used to be that people always recognized that date as Pearl Harbor Day. Now that I'm older, not so much.

[arcadian]

5. The old Pearl Harbor or the new one?

n/t

[RC]

6. Pearl Harbor is circling around the memory hole.

What the Japanese did used to be a crime. Not any longer, bu$h took care of that.
And that is why we are forgetting. We are no better now than the Japanese were then.

[Captain Hilts]

7. Bullshit. Pearl Harbor was part of a larger pattern of abuse and aggression throughout the Pacific.

Manchuria was a crime because Japan struck first.
Corregidor was a crime because Japan struck first.
Hong Kong was a crime because Japan struck first.
Singapore was a crime because Japan struck first.
Korea was a crime because Japan struck first.

[joeybee12]

8. You're absolutely right...

...Japan was out to conquer the world...let's not forget the Baatan Death march or the prison camps on the Japanese mainland...this truthout is just BS. Why do some people always try to prove that throughout history the United States has always been wrong?

[Captain Hilts]

9. Indeed. WWII wasn't our fault. We were the Good Guys. nt