Remember Pearl Harbor

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana, The Life of Reason.

67 years ago today, on December 7th, 1941, the United States was attacked by terrorists. It was a surprise attack on Sunday morning at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the a total of 2,402 Americans were killed, 57 of them civilians. We lost 5 battleships, 2 destroyers, and 188 planes, while only sinking 5 Japanese midget submarines and shooting down only 29 Japanese planes. The goal of the Empire of Japan was to take us out of World War II before we had joined it, so that we would not interfere with Japan's conquest of China and nearby islands. Fortunately, while it was a clear and decisive tactical victory for Imperial Japan, it was a bad move in the long run, as it awakened the "Sleeping Giant" of the United States and led to the ultimate downfall of the Japanese Empire. We've since rebuilt their country (as well as all of Europe, for a fraction of the cost of this so-called "bailout" of the auto industry, but that's another story), and Japan is no longer a threat.

Have we learned from history? Kind of. We were attacked again quite recently. Apparently it only takes 60 years to forget history. The attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 caused more casualties than Pearl Harbor, but they were all civilian. Both attacks were preventable had we been more aware and prepared for an attack. Even worse, in both cases conspiracy theories sprouted that the President knew of the attack in advance and did nothing so that there would be an excuse to join the global conflict without instigating the war. At least after Pearl Harbor, none that I knew of said the President planned the attack.

Fortunately in both cases the United States has given the appropriate response, and "stayed the course" even as public opinion, temporarily united against a common enemy, turns to opposition to the war (yes, there were protesters during WWII, too). After Pearl Harbor as well as after 9/11, the enemy expected no counter-attack. Both times the ultimate result was a complete destruction of the enemy's ability to wage war. The Japanese war machine was completely dismantled, and at least 90% of Al-Qaeda's military force has been destroyed, though you won't hear that in the mainstream news. In fact, we've won thoroughly enough in Iraq that Bush has time to safely withdraw troops before January 20th, when our country officially falls into the hands of Socialists. There will always be terrorists, but regimes have been toppled.

Fortunately, then and now, we've had the right leader in place at the right time. As disappointing as Bush has been these past couple years, at least on the most crucial issue he has led brilliantly, as did most of our leaders during World War II. It helped to have a victory six months later at Midway Island.

The events at Pearl Harbor have been made into many books and movies, but unfortunately the best-known one today, though named "Pearl Harbor," is probably the worst of them all. I can't definitively say that, since I haven't seen many, but it is extremely bad, and has almost no historical merit. Don't watch it, ever, because it sucks. Roger Ebert said (paraphrasing) that it was a movie about a Japanese surprise attack on an American love triangle. That's the best summary. It's the only movie ever where I've felt ripped-off enough to want my money back from the theater, but on principle I never ask for that since I sat through the whole thing.

Afterward I went home and popped in a much better Pearl Harbor movie: Tora! Tora! Tora! This movie pays much better attention to historical accuracy, and is probably the best retelling available. I highly recommend it.

Also, here is the text of Franklin Roosevelt's speech to Congress after the attack, and here are some pictures: