OT Political

[philo]

Moot point .

There is no good day to praise Japanese brilliance for the attack, but Pearl Harbor day is certainly the worst possible day to do so.

Since the war did not end so well for Japan, the attack was hardly brilliant...it was a fatal blunder. Japan never thought the US had the guts or capability to fight back.

Had Newt used the word "dastardly" I doubt I would have raised an eyebrow.

I suppose you'd be fine if he described the "911" attack as "professional brilliance." It was the ultimate act of cowards.

[philo]

That's why I have extensively read Churchill

[RonNNN]

It appears that it's Philo that didn't "read" the entire scenario.

[philo]

Indeed he did make an additional Tweet that day but it does not change what he said. He called a dastardly deed a "brilliant" one.

If you stuck a knife in the back of someone who was not looking, I'm not sure if too many people would call you brilliant.

[FromTheRafters]

A documentary I watched just last night said that the Japanese declared war on us 30 minutes prior to the attack. So they knew we knew, or at least they thought we knew.

It didn't take them very long to realize what a big mistake they made, but they surrendered too late.

[philo]

It's weird but I can see where Trump is coming from.

China is a Communist county so theoretically our enemy.

Taiwan is a free country (or territory ) so should be our friend.

That said, his approach is incredibly naive.

It is so much more complicated that he can comprehend.

By Trump not looking at the big picture is troubling to say the least.

[philo]

In those days a 30 minute warning would never have gotten through to the proper people in time. Even today a 30 minute warning would not have been enough to prepare.

Yep, That was my whole point, the decision to attack Pearl Harbor was not a brilliant move at all. It was step one to the total annihilation of Japan.

Even if Gingrich made one additional tweet that day that I initially missed...it's his use of the word "brilliant" that rankled me for a dastardly and cowardly deed.

[philo]

Still a moot point. The attack was not brilliant.

[philo]

Indeed. Gingrich is a traitor and for such reasons I dislike him.

The fact that he made an additional tweet that day does not change what he said

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per philo:

When I was stationed at Hickam AFB, working the 4-midnight shift I used to hitchhike into Waikiki every morning during the summer surf season.

One ride I got was from an old guy who claimed to have been manning the radar installation near Wheeler AFB.

He claimed to have seen the attack coming on the radar, but higher-ups blew him off both because radar was some sort of new-fangled thing that nobody really understood and because they expected a flight of some sort of US planes about that time.

[dpb]

On 12/08/2016 10:20 AM, philo wrote: ...

No, I didn't...

...

There's _always_ context around the rest of what was going that he was responding to or that prompted it...I'm sure that one particular sentence didn't just appear out of the blue.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per philo:

Right after 9/11, some talk show guy made a statement to the effect of "Whatever those guys were, they were not cowards. Cowards to not knowingly go to their deaths in support of their mission."

Needless-to-say he was eviscerated by the media and the public.

My thought was "Know your enemy."

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per philo:

I gave it five stars and would recommend it to just about anybody.

While they were filming it, my brother was working as a CID agent in a building in Pearl Harbor. He said it was a *really* weird feeling to look out the window and see faux Jap zeros faux-strafing the buildings.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per philo:

The term I used to hear applied to Rumsfeld, Cheyney, and the like was "Chicken Hawk". Rumsfeld's "You go to war with what you have.." response made my want to puke.

Also, I have heard several people credit Gingrich with starting the polarization between parties.... If that's true, I wonder if he has some sort of psychological defect that prevents him from putting himself in other people's shoes.

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Muggles:

The Rape of Nanjing:

"The Rape of Nanjing" by Iris Chang

Unit 731:

Definitely NOT isolated atrocities... repeated over-and-over again across Asia.

And Japan *still* has monuments honoring the perpetrators.

[Stormin' Norman]

Do you not understand the difference between tactical and strategic? The Japanese attack was a spectacular tactical success. The Japanese political strategy was ill advised.

[Stormin' Norman]

Go ahead, lay out your case for NG being a traitor, I would very much like to read your justification for such a charge.

I suspect you will not be able to substantiate your assertion any better than you were able to back-up your claim that Roosevelt knew the exact time and place for all the 7 December 1941 attacks, prior to

7 December.

[FromTheRafters]

I agree that it was too close to giving praise for the attack even if you don't ignore the context in which it was written. On a day of rememberance, it is beyond me how anyone would say such a thing.

There seems to be something about Twitter that idle's the brain while engaging the fingers.

[ChairMan]

As opposed to obama telling the vets to "Just get over it" Really?

[dadiOH]

The (few) carriers were at sea. At that time, the "fleet" was battleships. All eight were either sunk or damaged badly enough so they were our of service for times varying from months to years. Three cruisers too and some destroyers and auxilaries. Not to mention planes. Here's a list...