Never Forget

Pearl Harbor, on its 72nd anniversary, has more to teach us than ever. First, of course, we remember the thousands of men who perished when the Japanese hit Hawaii by surprise at dawn on December 7. They perished because of a lack of vigilance up the chain of command, some would say all the way to the top. Which is exactly where we are now.

The quality and state of readiness of the American military does not happen by itself. When the U.S. entered WW II it was woefully unprepared. The Great Depression still had the country in its grip and we were primarily concerned with our domestic troubles. Besides, our politicians assured us, treaties had been signed in the 1920s and 1930s that supposedly severely restricted key arms in the militaries of key nations. Of course they did not because the other nations cheated. Hitler built Germany into a powerhouse and Japan did likewise. In the meantime, we slept blissfully with our heads on a pile of paper which was the shredded treaties which had long since ceased to be honored . 

Circa 2013 both China and Russia are rapidly building up their militaries, including strategic nuclear systems. North Korea has nukes. Iran is about to get them, triggering a counter response from Saudi Arabia. Pakistan already has them and is selling the technology to all comers. Japan is probably secretly prepping both nukes and strategic delivery systems as a counterweight to the pressure it is getting from China, since the U.S. has gone wobbly. It's a tough neighborhood and getting tougher all the time.

In the meantime, our Navy is down to its smallest number of ships since 1915, 10+ Air Force squadrons are sidelined due to lack of parts, flying time, etc. not to mention that the aircraft are wearing out, and the Army is being cut to 390,000 troops with similar cuts to the Marines.
Training has been slashed for all branches, which is critical to an effective force structure. 

The surest way to get into a massive war is to be weak and war today means mass civilian casualties because of nuclear (including EMP), and chemical and biological weapons. I am truly afraid that we are asleep in the same way as the 1930s. Pre-occupied with our own economic travails and otherwise just wanting to live the Good Life, we let our military dwindle, ignoring the growing peril in the world from bad actors that are becoming more bold every day because the cop on the block is gone. Ignorance is not bliss. The next Pearl Harbor will make 1941 look like a minor skirmish.