Trump celebrates Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor!
You can’t make this stuff up. Today, the President of the United States, whilst sitting next to the Japanese Prime Minister in the Oval Office, just celebrated the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor!
When asked by a Japanese reporter today why the US didn’t consult with allies before launching the surprise attack on Iran, Trump said:
“One thing you don't want is to signal too much. We went in very hard – and we didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.” Then, turning to Sanae Takaichi, he said “Who knows better about surprise than Japan?” Moments before, sitting on the plush lemon chair in the gold-encrusted Oval Office, Takaichi had been smiling from ear to ear. Trump wiped the smile off her face with one question:
“Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?” By now the prime minister was squirming uncomfortably. Trump looked straight at her and said: “Okay, RIGHT? He [the journalist] is asking me, do you believe in surprise? I think you much more so than us. And we had a surprise, and because of that surprise, we probably knocked out 50% – and much more than we anticipated doing. So if I go and tell everybody about it, it is no longer a surprise.”
For over 80 years the US has claimed a moral high ground on the basis of its rejection of “sneak attacks”. In one rhetorical flourish Trump exposed the jarring desolation of what the US now stands for.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s "Day of Infamy" speech was delivered on December 8, 1941 following Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor the day before.
Roosevelt, like President Pezeshkian of Iran today, was responding to an “unprovoked” sneak attack. President Roosevelt pointed out that negotiations were ongoing and, for him, the aggressor’s conduct was false, deceptive and below contempt:
“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 –a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
As with President Pezeshkian of Iran today, Franklin Delano Roosevelt drew the obvious conclusion: the nation was facing an existential threat.
“The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.”
Last week I interviewed US Ambassador (ret) Chas Freeman who emphasised that the Iranians fully understood that the US-Israeli war machine launched against them would not stop unless compelled to do so. For the Iranians, the goal is nothing less than to drive the Americans out of the region. To understand the intensity of their determination simply hear the words of FDR from 1941:
“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.”
I would remind US President Donald Trump that in referencing that other sneak attack he might have paused to ask: “Who won that war in the end?”
Eugene Doyle
