Pearl Harbor, 1941-2001

If you haven't already done so, please read last-year's Pearl Harbor Day blog post.



Like his father, Bush tries to keep a daily diary of his thoughts and observations, undoubtedly knowing that his words would inevitably be made public. On September 11, 2001, he dictated:

"The Pearl Harbor of the 21st century took place today."

His younger brother Jeb had served with Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, James Woolsey, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol, and James Bolton, and other architects of the Bush Administration's global military policy in drafting a blueprint for the 21st century: Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century. The strategic “transformation” of the U.S. military into an imperialistic force of global domination would require a huge increase in defense spending to “a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually,” according to the plan created by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

“The process of transformation,” the plan said, “is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor.”

After 9-11, Congress appropriated $40 billion toward PNAC's goal of "full-spectrum dominance." This is not just "a temporary, wartime buildup to fight terrorism," but "a permanent policy of maintaining U.S. military hegemony." The new Bush strategy proclaims: "Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military buildup in hopes of surpassing, or equaling, the power of the United States."

This is the doctrine of imperialism. It will secure the resources the U.S. needs in coming decades.

But, of course, the war in Iraq isn't about oil. It's about "justice." The untold thousands of deaths and millions displaced are vengeance for 9-11.

Chuck Colson asks, "Doesn’t the Bible say something about loving our enemies?" He begins today's radio broadcast with these words:

Jesus said many radical things. But none more radical than the commandment to forgive your enemy, even in time of war.

The Bush Administration has committed America to being a nation dedicated to perpetual war.

Pearl Harbor was FDR's excuse to get the U.S. into a war that cost 60 million lives. How many lives will Bush's Pearl Harbor cost?

What is the cost of forgiveness? What is the cost of war? Which is costlier?

Go back to last year's blogpost. The evidence suggests that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in retaliation for FDR's economic blockades. Does anyone seriously believe that Japan had plans to invade the United States, take over our government, and replace the stars and stripes in front of every post office with the rising sun? If Japan had conquered China, would the Emperor have killed as many people as Mao? Why did America "the Christian nation" drop nukes on the innocent and defeat Japan so that the Communists could take over Asia?

Does anybody seriously believe that Osama bin Laden threatened to take over the United States? Wasn't binLaden's fatwa (declaration of holy war) against the U.S. in retaliation for U.S. mideast policies, which were reminiscent of FDR's pressure on Japan?

If America's Founding Fathers would not have recognized the U.S. government after World War II, the destruction of the Constitution by the "war on terror" has been nearly total. If our foreign policy had been more Christian than imperialist, would we be more free and more secure than we are today?