Topic: U.S. History
Pearl Harbor and 9/11 Considered Thoughts on Pearl Harbor Day.by Josh Koch
(libertarian)
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Sixty-seven years ago, the modern era of history began. Rising out of the ashes of the Great Depression, a new generation answered the nation's call, found a common purpose, and changed the American experiment forever. Big events have a way of doing this throughout history.
Already, people are asking if 9/11 was that way for us. I would submit that, if you have to ask that question, you know the answer is "no." The difficulty lies in answering the questions about why the event will not be our generation's Pearl Harbor Day.
A simple study of the underlying history of both events has stunning similarities. In the Pacific, we used economic sanctions against a totalitarian regime to the point where they struck back at our fleet in an attempt to break the sanctions. In the Middle East, we have fought various small conflicts directly and by proxy, while occupying and manipulating regions rich in heritage to the natives. The common thread is an extended presence of a passive-aggressive nature, combined with projecting weakness of will and lack of vision to the enemy leadership.
The mechanism is simple: they decide to strike, are convinced that we won't retaliate effectively, and go for high-casualty and very costly targets. If they expect no retribution, the logic of the plan is undeniable.
So why will 9/11 not be our Pearl Harbor Day? In World War Two, no expense or effort was spared in striking back. We destroyed an empire to crush the enemy. Our national industry was the war machine. What have we done since 9/11 that compares? Have we mobilized?
No, we have talked about mobilizing. We have talked about crushing our enemies. We have invaded a nation that had nothing to do with 9/11. We have talked about revenge. We have bathed ourselves in the victims' blood and wrapped ourselves in the flag, but we have little to show for it after seven years.
The war "for the hearts and minds" has been fought in a universe that is tangential to our own, in the realm of the imagination where politicians possess the power of God, the gift of speaking myths into reality. Just short of five years after Pearl Harbor, the nation had triumphed over the Axis powers on three continents. Seven years after 9/11, we can't even define victory, so we have not even begun to achieve it.
This is not to say that we did not suffer as a nation as much on 9/11 as we did on Pearl Harbor. We did suffer. The nation lost almost three thousand civilians in a major urban center, rather than twenty-three hundred military personnel on a distant island territory. If anything, 9/11 was made that much more painful because no victory and resolution was achieved.
The tragedy is still with us, as are the shame and disappointment. The memorial to the Pearl Harbor casualties was carried by every soldier, Marine, airman, and sailor. They were the Garand rifle, the Sherman tank, the P-51 Mustang, and the mighty battleships. Those memorials are still with us like monuments from a legendary deed.
Contrast that with our living memorials to 9/11: The invasion of Iraq , Blackwater killings, Gitmo, and Haliburton contracts. Yes, 9/11 and Pearl Harbor are similar, but they are different. Pearl Harbor was brought upon us by foolish leaders, as was 9/11, but the leaders after Pearl Harbor were willing to lead a nation to closure. They understood the maxim that "Justice delayed is justice denied." It was an era with its own major problems, but certain ideals had not yet waned from our consciousness.
The leaders of the 9/11 era, in contrast, are content with mere talk about justice, retribution, and peace. America was ready for the fight on 9/12, but our leaders spent the next seven years lying and manipulating us into doing things that had nothing to do with the inciting event. They showed no interest in our national pain, just a cynical use of the pain to their own ends. It is not our fault that 9/11 will not be Pearl Harbor Day. Rather, it is the fault of the most cynical Federal regime in modern times. This collection of scoundrels has no interest in peace or war, it merely has an interest in its own portfolio.
Americans must learn the deeper lesson here: Leaders of men have reverted to being demagogues just as they did in Rome and Greece. Distrust of manipulative powers is as American as mom and apple pie. Until the marketplace of ideas (the ballot) is a true free market, the public will be led my incompetent men who have no greater interest than the aggrandizement of themselves and their "former" employers. Until we have leaders worthy of us, we will wallow in regret and disappointment.
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The views expressed in this
article are those of Josh Koch only and do not represent
the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates. Josh Koch is
solely responsible for the contents of this article and is not an
employee or otherwise affiliated with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
Your 9/11 - Pearl Harbor comparison is fundamentally flawed. You assume, in both cases, that the government versions of the two attacks are all true, when even just a little research will show that the government lied about, and was complicit in, the attacks -- especially the 9/11 attacks. See Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor and The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9- 11
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