Worse than Pearl Harbor?

[glennmac]

I'd say yes and no.

It certainly will be much worse in terms of total casualties. There were about 2,500 in PH; I expect there could be more than 20,000 at the WTC. It's also worse because the victims were all civilians, not military personnel. Even the Japanese didn't bomb downtown Honolulu.

I think the WTC is much less of a military threat to the US, however, than PH was. Remember, in 1941, the Japanese had superior military forces to us. Plus the raid essentially destroyed our Pacific fleet. People here really feared an actual invasion of the West Coast by this superior military force. That was the precipitating reason for the internment camps. Because of these invasion fears, the Rose Bowl game was moved to the East Coast for the only time. While we may now fear another terrorist strike of some kind in the future, there is no chance that terrorists currently have the power or resources to militarily defeat or subjugate us.

Thus, although I wasn't there, I suspect the feeling of national urgency was even greater after PH than it is now.

 

[geneP]

glennmac, I'd like the know where the meter is that registers the degree of a disaster Citizens of both eras were shocked that such devastation could be inflicted on us so quickly that we couldn't defend ouselves. I, like you, have mixed feelings about the horror of the WTC vs Pearl Harbor. Not having the advanced communications of today during the 40's probably heightened the shock factor for citizens of that era. They weren't exposed to the detais of all the calamities and atrocities of that time as we are today.

On the other hand, live videos of the recent terror have helped us get a handle on the magnitude of destruction. The population of the 40's weren't hit with details as quickly as we were. Maybe the slower communication of the extent of the devastation softend the blow?

 

[glennmac]

Gene,

Good point about the vastly different communication and tv environments.

The endless tv replays could actually be affecting us pychologically in two different directions. One affect is that we all witnessed the horror immediately. The other affect is that the endless tv repetitions could eventually dull our horror. I understand that some children are having difficulty separating the reality of the WTC pictures from the same kinds of things they see in disaster movies. In fact, sometimes I even get that feeling (or misguided hope) that it looks like a Hollywood production.

They say tv was one of the reasons that sapped our military and political resolve in the Viet Nam war, because it was the first time we could see the horror of death and dismemberment in war in real time. That then supposedly led to our "no casualties" mentality, which was reflected in the video-game-like bombing wars in the Gulf and the Balkans.

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
I had a big think on this one the other day and the only thing the same is the lose of life and like you i would say the WTC would be the worst not just becouse of the numbers ...now heres my view on why PH happened japan wanted the picific(?) now with the kiwis and aussies overs seas the only fear the japaness had was the USA ,which was not in the war at this time if i recall.so in a well planed move japan tryed to knock out the US's navy ...think back 60 years most armys were shiped not flowen...some of the people on here may have been based in NZ or there fathers during WW2... where the japanenes planing to take over NZ and OZ ? YES!!!!!!!! after the end of war so stuff come to light a plan to put all males in south island and all females in north island and other way with jap people so ya get a 1/2 jap race in a very short time hell they even had the money printed ...so PH was to try and keep the USA out of japan's plans or slow them down the WTC on the other hand i don't know, there were people from all over the world there was it an attack on the US people ,what the USA stands for ,or an attack on the people of the world
take care
JD Kid

 

[cp1969]

Not as bad as Pearl Harbor, in my opinion. No military assets were lost, and although the casualties are more, as a percentage of population they are less. Not that that matters one whit to the families of those killed. Pearl Harbor also launched us into WWII. I doubt (or is it hope?) that this will not escalate to that scale.