Let's Not Imitate the British

[Guest guest]

Let's Not Imitate the British

by Charley Reese

What I fear most for the future of our country is that our leadership

seems to be developing the same arrogance that doomed the British

Empire.

 

In early 1941, the British general in charge of the Far East scoffed at the

idea that Japan would attack. The Japanese wouldn't dare, he said,

because they were a subhuman, inferior race. That same year, Winston

Churchill likewise said that the Japanese would not dare attack the

British Empire. The Japanese were, he said, the "wops of the East,"

thus insulting two peoples in one sentence.

 

The Japanese, who were then and are now among the most brilliant

people on Earth, did attack the British Empire. They sank the very

battleship on which Churchill made his statement. They completely

defeated the British in the Far East in 11 weeks, capturing more than

100,000 British soldiers and officers. It was the largest, most humiliating

defeat in Britain's history.

 

Once, for the fun of it, I went to the microfilm and read the newspapers

in the city where I was living that were published immediately after the

attack on Pearl Harbor. People's ignorance of Japan was appalling. In

man-in-the-street interviews, many Americans predicted a short and

easy war because they thought the Japanese were all small and had

poor eyesight from eating too much rice.

 

What Japan had, in reality, was a 3,000-year history of being a

disciplined and warlike people, the only people in the Far East who

defeated European efforts to colonize them. They were also the people

who made a miraculous transition from a feudal state to an industrial

power in an amazing 40 years.

 

Ironically, the same arrogance led the Japanese leaders into attacking

America and thus, in the reported words of Adm. Isoroku

Yamamoto, "awakening and enraging a sleeping giant." Japanese

martial spirit was no match for the great, energy-rich industrial power

the United States was at that time.

 

If we look at ourselves honestly, since World War II, we have become a

sort of bully. We browbeat and fight minor powers and no-powers while

our generals and politicians strut about as if they had conquered the

Roman Empire or Napoleon. We were damned lucky the Soviet Union

collapsed from its own internal mistakes.

 

Arrogance and hubris lead to underestimating others and overestimating

ourselves. That's very dangerous. We have a beautiful country and a

great people, but if we don't get serious about correcting our political

and economic problems, we might well follow the British Empire and

become a footnote in future history books.

 

http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese228.html

Write to Charley Reese:

 

Charley Reese

P.O. Box 2446

Orlando, FL 32802

 

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years, reporting on

everything from sports to politics. From 1969–71, he worked as a

campaign staffer for gubernatorial, senatorial and congressional races in

several states. He was an editor, assistant to the publisher, and

columnist for the Orlando Sentinel from 1971 to 2001. He now writes a

syndicated column which is carried on LewRockwell.com. Reese served

two years active duty in the U.S. Army as a tank gunner.

 

 

 

 

 

October 15, 2005

 

Charley Reese [send him mail] has been a journalist for 49 years.

 

© 2005 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

 

Charley Reese