European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 07, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse A York times dealt with the spread of War abroad or the effects of the defense buildup at Home. And there was an and by an organization called peace House Quot closed until further notice on account of that afternoon. President Roosevelt sent the japanese emperor a personal plea for peace. A this son of Man has just sent his final message to the son of god a for told a visitor to his office. Roosevelt s attention had shifted from new Deal reforms to preparations for War. That Day in fact Julian Huxley arrived by ship from England and told reporters he had come to find out whatever happened to America s Quot social prices had risen 10 percent in the past year because the government was printing More Money while diverting raw materials and manufactured goods for military uses. Gas and sugar had become scarce during the summer. Some merchants imposed their own makeshift rationing systems a few even printed ration cards. There had been a draft since 1940, and even comics Page Boxer Joe Paf Ooka had joined the army the morning papers showed Hank Greenberg the Detroit tigers slugger leaving fort Custer mich., after 180 Days service. The same Day cavalry troops on Maneu vers at Camp Dunstan kan., had used eggs for hand grenades. The Navy chose dec. 6 to announce it would henceforth accept men with varicose veins hernia and Hay fever and the agriculture department warned civilians against planting a Victory gardens in Case of War. There was enough food and the Farmers could always grow More. As the Day ended people coming out of Heaters along Broadway picked up Early editions of the new York Herald Tribune which had a Story on Pearl Harbor a the Point of defense of our West coast,�?T1 meanwhile six carriers flying the Sunburst of Japan s Imperial Navy Cut through the Pacific a few Hundred Miles Northwest of Hawaii they were headed for Pearl Harbor and America was headed for a new and realities behind the attack Manifest destiny gone terribly awry by Michael Hirsh the associated press an awed silence filled the room. At one end sat emperor Hirohito rigid on his brocaded dais at the other sat his proud impassive Cabinet ministers it was dec 1,1941, and together they had just decided on what would one Day be viewed As National suicide. Quot our Empire stands at the threshold of glory or oblivion a prime minister Hideki Tojo said before adjourning the Imperial conference in a week japanese planes would attack the . Fleet at Peart Harbor. Japan simply had had enough. The impudent americans were demanding the impossible that Japan surrender the East asian Empire it had paid in blood to build since the 1931 invasion of China and which resource poor Japan Felt was its Manifest destiny and action had to be taken quickly. Every Day Japan grew weaker under the tightening stranglehold of president Franklin d. Roosevelt s embargo on Oil and scrap Iron a punishment for Japan s predation in Asia. Every Day America grew stronger As it awakened from its peacetime slumber and mobilized for the world War already raging. Analysts and historians have been Quick to Call the Pearl Harbor raid a fatal strategic Blunder because it ended finally in the deaths of 3 million japanese the country s major cities bombed into heaps of cinder. What dream world were japanese leaders living in to dare take on the american Titan but Japan was painfully aware of America s Industrial might. It had no intention of Landing troops on California beaches and marching on Washington. The raid was instead a calculated risk to give Japan a head Start with an Early knockout blow to the . Pacific Fleet much As it outlasted Russia with a Surprise naval raid on port Arthur in 1905, stunning the world. If Japan succeeded Long enough in the Pacific a War weary America would sue for peace and depart East Asia judging it not Worth the Cost in blood. In View of the later . Experience in Vietnam when America did just that such a risk May not have been unreasonable. What the japanese did not reckon on however was arousing americans Wrath with a Surprise attack one made worse by a diplomatic bungle. Japan had instructed its ambassador Kichisabur Nomura to deliver its War declaration just before the bombs few at Pearl Harbor. Because of translation problems he was More than an hour late. Another myth persists a perpetuated in part by today s pacifist japanese a that Tojo and his ministers were warmongers or even deranged. In fact a review of the minutes of the 1941 policy conferences reveals painstaking cautious debate Nutte different from today s Cabinet discussions. The debate dragged out through the Spring summer and fail of 1941, and the constant refrain was How to avoid War what else can Japan propose to America there was serious Taik about giving up All its military conquests in China and Indochina and enduring Gashin Khotan a literacy to Quot sleep on kindling and lick Gan Quot a the japanese version of a bite the Bullet. Quot even Hirohito who As emperor was supposed to remain silent As a Symbol of state legitimacy broke in at one Point to demand further peace talks. What finally tilted the balance toward War historians say was the Tough stance of . Secretary of state Cordell Hull and the perception that Japan had to move quickly. The catalyst Hows or May have been injured Pride since the late 19th Century this insecure nation had Feil slighted by the West. The Western imperialists had stripped Japan of its rightful winnings in the 1895 sino japanese War its first bid to become a great Power even now Japan sought Only what Britain Russia and Germany had tried to do to carve up China then there were outrageous snubs such As the Angio american rejection of Japan s simple request for a racial Equality clause in the league of nations charter after world War i. This resentment crystallized at the dec 1 meeting Quot the United slates is being utterly conceited obstinate and disrespectful a a said Yoshimichi Hara president of the emperor s privy Council. Quot we simply cannot tolerate such an attitude Quot a Calm deliberative Man Hara had been a Strong opponent of War. Had Hull been More willing to Grant Japan even minor face saving concessions Pearl Harbor might never have happened. Negotiations would Likely have continued into 1942, when Japan would have witnessed the tide turn against the nazi invasion of Russia historian John Toland wrote Quot the japanese would have been eager to make almost any concessions to avoid going into a desperate War with an ally Germany which now faced inevitable defeat Quot Toland said in his exhaustive 1970 study the rising Sun. Quot there is Little likelihood that the implausible series of chances and coincidences that brought about the december 7 disaster could have been could a Pearl Harbor happen again most analysis say no. Even if Japan shed its postwar pacifism a which it shows no sign of doing a it would be unlikely to repeat such a traumatizing mistake in the nuclear age they say in part. . Critics argue that is because Japan is achieving peacefully with Trade now what it tried to do with torpedoes and troops then building an asian Empire it iat America s expense. But Robert Orr director of the Stanford Japan Center notes an intriguing parallel the 20th Century opened with Japan the United states and Germany As expanding Powers As it closes the three former adversaries Are proving dominant again Japan Orr says already has the third largest military budget in the world and manufactures most of its own weapons in addition it has the technological know How to Quot go nuclear in a second Quot i Don l think anybody should tear rampant militarism now he says thirty years from now who knows7 Japan has the potential to change gears fast saturday Dacambra 7,1991 the Start and so Alpaa 15
