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Why remember Pearl Harbor?
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By ERI HOTTA*


NEW YORK -- Dec. 7 marks the 67th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the years, "the day of infamy" has become a classic reference point for galvanizing patriotic sentiment in America. In the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, for example, analogies to Pearl Harbor were made frequently.

But despite its central place in America's collective memory, Pearl Harbor remains little understood. Why did Japan initiate such a seemingly self-destructive war in the first place? Aside from lessons that Japan must learn from its momentous decision, is there something to be learned by the United States as well?

The decision to attack Pearl Harbor was reached after five months of deliberations that included numerous official conferences. It was a gradual process in which more sympathetic, albeit firm, US engagement might have helped sway Japan in a different direction. In fact, Japanese government opinion was so divided that it is surprising that it was able to unite in the end.

Many in the Japanese army initially regarded the Soviet Union as the main threat facing the country. Others saw the US as the primary enemy. Some were concerned with more abstract, ideological enemies, such as communism and "Americanism," while there were also voices highlighting the menace of the "white race" (including Japan's allies, Germany and Italy) against the "yellow race."

Then there were those who preferred not to fight any enemy at all, particularly the US, whose long-term war-making power, the government knew, far surpassed Japan's own. The tactical mastermind of the Pearl Harbor operation, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, was one of them.

Over the course of the summer of 1941, events slowly tilted Japan toward the possibility of war with the West. But Pearl Harbor was in no way inevitable. Germany's attack on the Soviet Union compelled Japan in July 1941 to prepare a plan of attack. Although it made clear Japan's desire to take advantage of the European conflict and gain a foothold in the European colonies in Southeast Asia, the plan was not clear about who constituted Japan's true enemy.

Japan's military thrust into Southeast Asia led President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration to impose sanctions. The US froze Japanese assets, an example followed by Britain and the Dutch East Indies. When Japan responded by taking over southern French Indochina, the US retaliated by imposing an embargo on oil exports to Japan. Rather than telling Japan that the US was determined to search for a diplomatic solution, America's categorical reaction confirmed it to the Japanese as an arrogant and conceited enemy. Moreover, by transferring its Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, the US encouraged the Japanese understanding that the US fully anticipated war with Japan.

World War II in the Pacific finally came about for many different reasons. But it was, above all, the sense of encirclement and humiliation that united the deeply divided Japanese government. Feeling defeated by a series of failed approaches to the US, including an overture to hold direct talks with Roosevelt, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe resigned on Oct. 16, 1941, making hard-line Army Minister Hideki T?j? his successor.

The high-handed tone of the Hull Note of Nov. 26, 1941, demanding Japan's withdrawal of all its troops from China, was a final blow to the moderates in Japan's government, who still hoped for diplomatic negotiations. By this time, many policymakers were convinced that the US was not ready to hear them out. It was ultimately in the name of saving Asia for all Asians from what was regarded as Western arrogance that the government united to wage war. On Dec. 1, it was decided that the war would commence in six days.

There were legitimate historical reasons for Japan to feel humiliated on the eve of war. The gunboat diplomacy that resulted in the opening of Japan and unequal treaties in the mid-19th century was but a beginning. More immediately, the Great Depression and the subsequent compartmentalization of the world into economic blocs also worked to the advantage of the already powerful. Coupled with the economic hardship of the interwar years were instances of racial prejudice in the US that aimed at preventing Japanese immigration. United by this long-simmering and humiliating sense of exclusion, Japanese policymakers, whatever their differences, stumbled toward the Dec. 1 decision to go to war.

With almost 70 years of hindsight, Pearl Harbor should offer some lessons for US foreign policy today. Despite obvious differences between Pearl Harbor and recent terrorist tactics, they show the common desire of self-proclaimed Davids to topple their Goliaths in a clearly lop-sided battle. These Davids depend on Western technologies to overcome imbalances of power, and are driven by a sense of real or imagined humiliation.

But no matter how strong and historically justified such grievances may be, those who resort to murderous tactics must be condemned. However, high-handedness and tough talk alone are an inadequate response, for this approach further humiliates those who already feel humiliated and alienates those who might otherwise proffer a more moderate voice. Diplomacy no longer works with terrorism, but it can help to prevent it by dealing carefully with potentially hostile states. With global expectations mounting for a fresh start in US foreign policy, it is vital not just to remember, but to understand the attack on Pearl Harbor.


todayszaman


*Eri Hotta is author of "Pan-Asianism and Japan's War 1931-1945." © Project Syndicate, 2008


07 December 2008

December 7, 2008 | 9:33 PM Comments  0 comments

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