The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was purest treachery. And it remains a sad reflection on the state of human affairs that the best way to keep the peace is to be prepared for war.
But we should also be alert to the fact that the USA's management of foreign relations--short of war--was in 1941--and continues to this day--to be terrible. Our foreign relations stance on December 6, 1941 was disgraceful and contradictory. We supported Asian colonial empires of Great Britain, France and the Netherlands, but we would not support the empire-building of Japan in Manchukuo. To Japan, our foreign policy at that time looked purely racist--we appeared to be supporting white domination in Asia. In the Western hemisphere we told people that we would defend the hemisphere--through the Monroe doctrine--against all comers. But at the same time, we thought it was fine for our western white friends to go a-plundering in Eastern hemisphere. Japan just wanted a piece of the pie. When we wouldn't let the playing field be level for them side by side with the British, French and Dutch, they thought they had no choice but to take their slice through military action. Our foreign policy backed Japan into a corner, spit in their face with our oil embargo, and then said "now, what are you going to do?" And then we were surprised when they did what cornered animals do. Worse, we stood up against Japan in Manchukuo because we thought Chaing Kai Chek could beat Mao and the communists in China and we wanted Manchukuo to be part of Chaing's democratic China. Unfortunately, it turned out that Chaing was a corrupt, ineffective warlord and Mao took China communist. Japan could have been and should have been our bulwark against communism in Asia. Japan was fiercely anti-communist. It remains one of the most interesting "what-if" questions of the WWII-era whether Mao could ever have won in China if there had been a strong Japan occupying Manchukuo. Of course, Roosevelt did not believe in the Communist threat and only saw the writing on the wall too late--right before his death. Anyway, my only point is that our foreign policy has never been far-sighted enough to prevent wars and secure desirable international positions for us through a carefully-crafted vision. We just blow with the wind and change direction every four or eight years. True then and true now. 73, Don Merz, N3RHT -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of WØQFC Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2006 9:51 AM To: Mark Foltarz; t 368; [email protected]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; GlowBugs Subject: [AMRadio] Re: [Boatanchors] A moment, a day,a passing of a generation Mark: Thank you for the link to the Yahoo News item. As I read the article another tear came to my eye as it did when I visited the Arizona in 1976. While standing on the Memorial my wife asked me "Whats the matter?", as she noticed a tear on my cheek. I told her how sad and lucky I felt - sad for my fellow sailors - lucky because (Even though it had been 22 years since I was in the Navy) I came through the Korean Conflict unhurt. It is almost impossible to describe the feelings I had on the Memorial. PLEASE, let us NEVER forget and STAY ALERT. Gene ______________________________________________________________ AMRadio mailing list List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Partner Website: http://www.amfone.net Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected] ______________________________________________________________ AMRadio mailing list List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Partner Website: http://www.amfone.net Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:[email protected]
