Quote:
Originally Posted by Sailor Steve
Roosevelt didn't use the term "Infamy" because the attackers fought the best they could. He used it in part because, as was previously described, it was an attack made before the declaration of war. He used it because he was angry, because he wanted to inspire his fellow Americans to the same anger, and, yes, there was a bit of propaganda involved, as there always is in any speech of that type.
As with any other discussion of war, including the many we've had on war crimes, the times and circumstances need to be taken into account before any judgement is made of the people who were involved.
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Roosevelt was not surprised by the fact that japan started war, because I follow those historians saying that provoking that attack by his stangling oil policy was his only way to bring america into the war, something the congress and the wide public strongly opposed untilm Pearl Harbour. Roosevelt most liekly was not surpsied by the Japanese attacking, but probbaly by the sheer scale of the initial attack. and it always is two different things to just talk about and plan for war, and then being confronted by real war in reality. The american policy left the Japanese only two choices, to either withdraw as a strategic major player from the Pacific and leave it to the US, or to hope defeating america in a war. cinsidering their imperial attitude oif that time and the mindset of their traditional code, it was to be expected that they would strike.
Declaration of wars - when you decided to start killing hundreds of thousands and destroy whole cities, i think these civilised acts of elaborated manners loose in relevance. leave them for times of peace and the dinnerhalls and the party at the embassy. In war, the dead are still as dead as before - with or without such a declaration.
Be hesitent to launch war, but when you do, let nothing, really nothing come between you and the ultimate destruction of your enemy. and that is what the Japanese followed. When they decided for war, they planned, prepared, hid as best as they could, and deceived the americans as best as they could, and then struck with all force like a lightning out of the blue sky. They acted with maximum determination and without hesitation form the moment on they decided for war. No time for romantising the bloody business that lied ahead! If it would have gone as the embassy planned, Washington would have gotten the war declaration just minutes ahead of the attck - an you want to tell me that it would have made or would have meant a difference...? You would complain about that they did not give oyu the warning time oyu needed to ready your forces in a better way. In other words: you expect the Japanese to act stupid, and then complain about them not complying with your intention. that is absurd!
There is one war movie aboiut WWI, where an american squadron arrives in europe, and one american pilot refuses to follow all this nonsens thing abiut honiur and muttual respect between English and Germna pilots. He behaved like a wild boar in the sky and shot and killed everything that moved, refused to save injured enemies, and payed them no respect whatever. Initially them English attacked him for that. they were not sitting in the trenches and suffered the misery of the ordinbary infantryman, but were fighting like knights in the sky and considered themselves to be gentleman members of the same noble class like the german pilots. that way, they lost against the Germans - and even saluted then Germans for their superiority! BIG TIME BULLSH!T. That American flyer was right from the first day on, the air war became more nasty, and the dominance of the german air force started to wane.
I have another famous story, that is attributed to a heroic figure in Japan, Musashi. He is said to have gotten into hot argument with a local landlord where he stayed. Samurai that they are, they fix a duel for the morning of the next day, and Musashi leaves. On the next morning, the lord has a little parade, and his guards and the servants and the flag carriers all leave the castle and marchd to the beach. No Musashi there. They wait, but Musashi does not come. the lord becomes angry, but you are a lord and a samurai, you see, so you just keep your countenance. He waits. It becomes noon - No Musashi anywhere. the lord is boiling in his own anger, and tries to rather keep his face unmoved. The hours pass. when the sun starts to set, a boat appeares on the sea, and approaches the beach. The lord calls his servants to order, a nice looking parade, and althoug being angry, he feels the need to follow the rules of staying calm and polite and he starts to greet his oppent, planning his death soon after. They stand on the beach, where the boat just hits the sand. The lord starts greeting Musashi. Musashi does not greet in return, just jumps out of the boat with his sword over his head, let hear his war cry and smashes the lords skull with one powerful stroke. then he is back in the boat and rudders back to the sea, leaving behind a completely stunned audience. - That'S how it is done, Steve. All that rules of honour and politeness and the parade and paying respect - once the war, the fight is decided, all that does not change a thing, it does not mean anything, it only is BIG TIME BULLSH!T. When you have decided for the fight - be a raging bull with mean eyes: strike, shatter, kill. Simply that.
You fight, or you don't. Let there be no in-between. And if God himself steps in your way hindering you to kill your enemy - kill God first, and then kill your enemy.
America did not udnerstand this. And that'S why Pearl Harbour became possible. It was an American failure, a lacking understanding of the culture and nature of the enemy and the way he is ticking. the japanese in return underestimated the industrial potential of the US, and the way a war would rally american public opinion around the flag. but even if they knew it I wonder if they would have taken the alternative to voluntarily withdraw as a big player from the Pacific gameboard. I doubt it.