Loud + Weak = War

China and Russia are no more impressed with empty bluster today than Japan was in 1941.

by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online 

The Roosevelt administration once talked loudly of pivoting to Asia to thwart a rising Japan. As a token of its seriousness, in May 1940 it moved the home port of the Seventh Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor — but without beefing up the fleet’s strength.477px-Franklin_Roosevelt_signing_declaration_of_war_against_Japan

The then-commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral James O. Richardson, an expert on the Japanese Imperial Navy, protested vehemently over such a reckless redeployment. He felt that the move might invite, but could not guard against, surprise attack.

Richardson was eventually relieved of his command and his career was ruined — even as he was later proved right when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Britain at the same time promoted a loud Singapore Strategy, trumpeting its Malaysian base as the “Gibraltar of the Pacific.” But London did not send out up-to-date planes, carriers, or gunnery to the Pacific.

Japan was not impressed. It surprise-attacked the base right after Pearl Harbor. The British surrendered Singapore in February 1942, in the most ignominious defeat in British military history.

By 1949, the U.S. was pledged to containing the expansion of Communism in Asia — even as Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson (who had been chief fundraiser for Truman’s 1948 campaign) declared that the Navy and Marines were obsolete. He began to slash both their budgets. Continue reading “Loud + Weak = War”

Is China copying the old imperial Japan

by Victor Davis Hanson // Tribune Media 

In the 1920s, Japan began to translate its growing economic might — after a prior 50-year crash course in Western capitalism and industrialization — into formidable military power. Continue reading “Is China copying the old imperial Japan”

North Korean Mythologies

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Much of what is written about the North Korean crisis seems to me little more than fantasy. Let us examine the mythologies. Continue reading “North Korean Mythologies”

Pearl Harbor Considered

by Victor Davis Hanson

NRO’s The Corner

Why did Japan attack us 70 years ago today, other than the usually cited existential reasons and the fact that they thought they could and get away with it? Continue reading “Pearl Harbor Considered”

What America Does Best

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

We are in a fresh round of declinism — understandably, after borrowing nearly $5 trillion in less than three years and having very little to show for it. Continue reading “What America Does Best”

Obama’s Empty Apologetics

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

At any time in the 2,500-year history of Western diplomacy, has a head of state been advised by his host not to apologize for a long-ago act? I cannot think offhand of any instance until, apparently, two years ago. Continue reading “Obama’s Empty Apologetics”

The War against Real but Forgotten Evil

by Terry Scambray

Private Papers

A review of Moral Combat: Good and Evil in World War II, by Michael Burleigh (Harper Collins, 2011, 562 pp.) Continue reading “The War against Real but Forgotten Evil”

The Fragility of Complex Societies

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Thoughts on Japan

There is no more ordered, successful and humane urban society than found in Japan. Continue reading “The Fragility of Complex Societies”

The American 21st Century

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

The current debt, recession, wars, and political infighting have depressed Americans into thinking their country soon will be overtaken by more vigorous rivals abroad. Yet this is an American fear as old as it is improbable. Continue reading “The American 21st Century”