Comments on Pearl Harbor Day

At least we responded by attacking the nation that attacked us then.

Not like now.

Hint: Saudi Arabia is the source of more than 90 percent of all funding - TODAY - and more than 90 percent of all volunteers - TODAY - for al-Qaeda - and the source of 100 percent of the religious theological texts produced and sent worldwide using Saudi government funds.

Not Iraq.

Not Iran.

Those countries had a history of killing al-Qaeda before we messed up.

Pearl harbor was an inside job!

shut up will.

I can't belive the Japanese would attack islands out in the Pacific that the US siezed from their rightful owners. It's like robbing the robber barons. Outrageous.

58 years ago today Tom Waits was born in Indiana. No Americans died.

What a beautiful photo. Where is it from?

Could you imagine where we would be now if Bush was president in 1941? God, the nightmares that brings to mind.

@2 & 7

There is plenty of supported evidence that FDR likely knew of Pearl Harbour attacks prior to Dec 8. I think it's similar to Bushies knowing about the impending 9/11.

left coast, it's comments like yours that make Joe Average American think that all progressives are pedantic traitorous douches. So thanks.

And by the way, since we're on the topic, the transfer of power from the Hawaiian royalty to the white land holders was NOTHING compared to the 75% of the natives who were wiped out 100 years earlier in the VD epidemics that followed the arrival of Cook & Co.

To mark the occasion, I plan to sneak attack my liver.

And then, as now, there are those who argue that someone knew it was going to happen. And let it happen, in order to push U.S. opinion towards entering WWII.

And also, like now, there is the counter-argument that simply blames ineptitude and stupidity.

Daniel @8
Like what? If you really knew what you were talking about, you would not make such an statement. You one of those morons who think the US government brought down the world trade center?

One of the tragedies of 9/11 is that it is now no longer possible to mention Pearl Harbor without the Truthers coming out of their holes.

One year ago today, I was in Honolulu, talking with an old man that was there for the ceremonies marking the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day.

He proudly wore his uniform hat, along with white knee socks and old-timey cologne. I spent almost two hours with him, listening to his remembrances and stories.

He was from New York and had been a member of the 25th Infantry Division. Seven of his buddies from home died in the Pearl Harbor attack. He had been saved by the fact that it was pay day, and he had gone out to get some pussy.

Old dude had strong opinions about Iraq -- "It's disheartening, worse than Viet Nam" -- and confessed to losing his virginity in an Oahu whorehouse. He claimed to have a great appreciation for Japan, but did not bat an eye when using the term "slant-eye."

I loved talking to him. He seemed equally glad to have someone to listen to his tales.

My flight out of Seattle the day before had carried many of the remaining Pearl Harbor survivors to the island. We had to turn back at the gate when one of them had a heart attack.

Big Sven, the days of myopic patriotism are coming to a close. Now that you've tanked your empire, you might not like how history is written. Other countries don't have to give a crap about the US dollar or the US version of history anymore. Get used to it loser.

27 years ago today... I was born. In Honolulu. On a Sunday. BAM!

And we thank our lucky stars for that, Carollani!

I guess it's possible that FDR knew about the attacks and did nothing, but wouldn't engaging the enemy when they showed up be just as effective in getting the country into the war? What was the point in not warning the military and setting up a defense?

A good argument against prior knowledge of the attack is that so many of the Navy's ships were in port that day. After the Pearl Harbor attack, the US Pacific fleet was fucked, just as Yamamoto intended. What he didn't expect, however, was that the US could mobilize enough of its industry to start doing crazy things like assembling a destroyer in two days.

@13: I wouldn't know that there even was a PH Truth movement if I hadn't discovered my grandmother's signed copy of The Final Secret.

@18: Well, because maybe then we would have remained in a neutral defensive position instead of going offensive. I dunno, I don't know the theories and won't try to explain them.

Ummm, left coast, "I've" tanked "my" empire? My mother wasn't even in her mother's womb when Pearl Harbor happened. And neither you nor I had anything to do with the annexation of Hawaii. But, really, bonus points for tying your multicultural defeatism to the weak US dollar.

My favorite thing about Pearl Harbor conspiracy theories (or 9/11 for that matter) is that they imply an egomaniacal sense of patriotism. After all you are implying the only way the US could successfully be attacked is with American cooperation; the Japanese were simply incapable of planning and executing a brilliant military attack.

There is far too much information on Pearl Harbor to do it any justice here on the Slog. Conspiracy aside, the US made plenty of mistakes leading up to the attack, but then again it was a sneak attack (planned incidentally by a Japanese man educated in the US- I think at Harvard).

However, to claim that FDR essentially allowed the Pearl Harbor attack to happen would be like saying Hitler knew about D-Day.

Big Sven, I think it's pretty obvious that the US is now a pineapple democracy. Rigged elections, the corruption and cronyism is rampant, the CIA is destroying evidence and committing perjury in order to continue torturing, there is a Republican army and the President has the power to order the National Guard from one state to another. The US dollar is no longer the gold standard, and the country is unwilling to abide by international law. In 8 years, The World Power has wasted trillions and is in a shambles. There isn't even money for health care for poor kids.

That's 'tanking your empire'. Once you've tanked your empire, might no longer makes right and the world isn't so interested in your version of history. The truth is that those ships were sitting in the port of seized territory so cry me a river. It's basically the equivalent of saying that Iraq is part of the US since we've decided to permanently occupy that country.

@10--Will you be downing Kamikazes?

Shit! It's my mom's birthday! Why the fuck can't I ever remember that until I see pictures of ships being blown up?

@19 - "After the Pearl Harbor attack, the US Pacific fleet was fucked, just as Yamamoto intended. What he didn't expect, however, was that the US could mobilize enough of its industry to start doing crazy things like assembling a destroyer in two days."

No, we basically lucked out that air power was so critical and most of our carriers weren't in port. By sinking so many of our heavy ships, they forced us to adapt and modernize, and use different tactics against which they were not as able to fight. The Japanese military at the time predicted they would eventually lose against the USA, but saw no way out other than a surprise attack.

So, while your point about production is spot on, it's mostly the law of unintended consequences. If they had sunk our carriers but only hit half of our heavy ships, we probably would have made bad decisions in production that probably would have given them a chance to defeat us.