On Dec. 8, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt took the rostrum before a joint session of Congress to ask for a declaration of war on Japan. A day earlier, at dawn, carrier-based Japanese aircraft had launched a sneak attack devastating the U.S. battle fleet at Pearl Harbor. Said ex-President Herbert Hoover, Republican statesman of the day, “We …
Continue reading “Did FDR Provoke Pearl Harbor?”
The killing of Osama bin Laden reminds us that there are only two disciplines in which uncaused events occur—quantum physics and the history of U.S. foreign policy. According to the version of history expounded by the American media and politicians, the passenger aircraft hitting the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 were a …
Continue reading “‘Unprovoked’ Attacks, From 1812 to 9/11”
The decapitation of the Polish government last weekend, including President Lech Kaczynski and the military leadership, on that flight to Smolensk to commemorate the Katyn Massacre, brings to mind the terrible and tragic days and deeds of what many yet call the Good War. From Russian reports, the Polish pilot waved off four commands from …
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World Wars and Lessons for Empire The Great War began 95 years ago this month, with the guns of August ending what has been described as Europe’s last summer. And 64 years ago this week, two nuclear weapons used against Japanese cities signaled the end of the Second World War. The first conflict broke the …
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From the Civil War to the Cold War, with Jeff Riggenbach