Althouse: Pearl Harbor Day.

December 7, 2008

Pearl Harbor Day.

Randy Barnett visits the memorial.

10 comments:

George M. Spencer said...: If Pearl Harbor happened today, the Emperor would denounce the admiral on board the attacking task-force as a rogue non-state element, and he would promise to do everything in his power to find the fleet in the lawless Pacific.

It would take the U.S. several months to try to figure out how to respond.

Around the nation, schools would teach special Asian culture awareness classes so that we better understood the historical mistreatment of Asians by Europeans.

Environmentalists would warn the US Navy not to sink Japanese tankers, because of the catastrophic irreparable harm this would cause to coral and other fragile habitats. In fact, the fleet would probably not be rebuilt because of dangerous smokestack emissions.

Meanwhile, attempts to keep the Manhattan Project secret would be violated by major newspapers, and Bob Hope and Clark Gable would lead anti-war protests around the nation, after announcing their marriage.; 12/7/08, 9:36 AM
Bissage said...: NO BLOOD FOR RUBBER!!1!!1!; 12/7/08, 9:44 AM
Ron said...: Cue the Obama/FDR comparisons!

"Japanese final strike on auto industry, held off by lone machinegunner, while Congress sleeps."; 12/7/08, 10:06 AM
Darcy said...: Original George: Sounds about right. Sadly.; 12/7/08, 10:33 AM
George M. Spencer said...: Not a lot of commentary here on the 67th anniversary.

I recently read "Retribution," an account of the last two years of the war in the Pacific by Max Hastings. At that point, everyone, including the Japanese field commanders, knew the Allies would win. It maddened the Allies because the Japanese would not quit. This really made the Allies angrier than they already were. It was all so pointless.

I learned stuff I never knew. In the Philippines when the Japanese retreated it was their policy to round up civilians--and I mean hundreds and hundreds of civilians in towns and villages--and tie them up and bayonet them or lock them in buildings and toss in hand grenades. When our troops advanced, they found towns and villages where everyone had been killed.

What else? The Japanese in China routinely rounded up hundreds and thousands of peasants and put them into forced labor projects building forts and airfields. When the work was done, the Japanese would kill all of them.

Of course, on the battlefields, we learned that the Japanese would not surrender. Or they would pretend to surrender and then start killing more of our soldiers. Or booby trap their comrades' corpses. So, basically, we stopped taking prisoners. Not that there were many to begin with. Terrorism really isn't so new.

When we got bases close enough to start bombing Japan--which, as it turns out, may or may not have been necessary to force the Japanese surrender, because we knew we were going to roll out nuclear weapons soon--everyone knew we were killing tens of thousands of Japanese civilians in firebomb raids. Our planes had to be degreased upon their return from missions, because the smoke rising from Japan's cities was so laden with human oils. But it was war, and in a real war, everyone becomes hardened to suffering and horror, and the violence becomes worse because everyone wants it over sooner rather than later. It was the same in the Civil War. And most other wars, too.

Did you know that on August 1, 2008, the New York Times reported that American intelligence agencies had concluded that the ISI, Pakistan's spy agency helped plan the July 2 bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul? 58 dead, 141 wounded. And the Afghan government agrees!

And, of course, our government also believes that Pakistan's spy agency is helping Afghan militants attack US soldiers, and we're relying on Pakistan's spy agency to help us find bin Laden. (At the link, you can hear the NYT reporter talking about US intercepts of communications between the ISI and Afghan militants. The reporter says that we're "sorting through" our relationship with the ISI.)

What will happen when a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb goes off in a US or Indian city? It seems like that's where we're headed, and, if so, will everyone continue to pretend there's no hostile state involvement? We know how to solve the problem. We've done it before. The problem is we lack the will. We're too busy playing xBox or something.; 12/7/08, 12:25 PM
al said...: My dad was a combat Marine during WWII. He never talked about what he did/saw.

Regarding the end of the war and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - I learned today that Kokura was the actual target for the second bomb. Weather forced the change to Nagasaki. Meteorology fans might find it interesting that Dr. Ted Fujita was living in Kokura at that time.; 12/7/08, 1:05 PM
Joe said...: My wife and I went to Hawaii a month ago and visited the Arizona Memorial. It was very sobering.; 12/7/08, 1:15 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Original George,

Richard Fernandez of the Belmont Club has a brief note here about his aunt who narrowly escaped such a fate.; 12/7/08, 3:30 PM
Darcy said...: You're right, Original George.

Here's to the Greatest Generation!
My dad was one of them. Bless them all.; 12/7/08, 4:04 PM
Tibore said...: "I learned stuff I never knew. In the Philippines when the Japanese retreated it was their policy to round up civilians--and I mean hundreds and hundreds of civilians in towns and villages--and tie them up and bayonet them or lock them in buildings and toss in hand grenades. When our troops advanced, they found towns and villages where everyone had been killed."

That may have been that way at the beginning of the invasion of the islands, but most people wised up soon enough. My own mother, young as she was at the time (very young; preschool/kindergarten age) and grandmother fled to the hills of Surigao with the rest of the family when the Japanese came. Mom and Grandma have a story about how her dad, my grandfather, burned or buried all the pictures of the male members of the family so the Japanese officers couldn't link people they found in the villiage with ones fighting the Japanese and use them against the fighters.

On dad's side - they came from northeast of Manila - there are members who were witnesses to the Bataan Death March, and a couple of uncles who survived it after the Corregidor surrender. I've been told about cases where, when the Japanese weren't looking, people lining the street to throw water and food to the prisoners (which were often confiscated by the Japanese) would go so far as to throw "farmer" hats and clothes on some of the marchers and spirit them away. They tried this with Americans too, but were nowhere near as successful, and failures meant on-the-spot punishment.

Before anyone thinks the above account was exaggerated - well, some accounts were, to be honest. Even for Filipinos, it's a bit hard to separate the mythical accounts from the realities, and more so for me who grew up here in the states. But the fact that non-combatants were killed in large numbers was most definitely not. Many of my own grand-aunts and uncles, and cousins-removed (however you classify cousins where the relationships were at the grand- and great-grandparent level) were eyewitnesses to these killings."; 12/8/08, 9:35 AM