What if on December 8, 1941 FDR had said...?

Question

We need to appoint a sensitivity committee to try and understand why the Empire of Japan felt it necessary to Bomb Pearl Harbor!

Laughable? Yes. Possibly the supidest Question every asked? More than likely.

Andrew M..The conditions that led to Nazism were the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles. It so financially devastated a defeated Germany that they were willing to follow any leader that would get them out of their financial bind. Not unlike todays Family Court system which so financially devestates the Non Custodial Parent that in many cases he must turn to illegal sources of income to make ends meet. Think about it.

Very good dialouge there Andrew M, and If the US did understand that at the end of WWI. We did not ask for any reparations however we did ignore the situation created by those who did with Isolationist policies following WWI. Additionally that the Germans asked for Armistice based on Wilson's 14 points. The Politicians in France and England who were running in the first free elections since the war started discovered they got the most cheers when they uttered the words "...and Germany will be punished for its actions!"
Another example of Politicians doing what they had to, to get elected and ignoring what was right or fair.

I think the country that was left in the worst shape after having been defeated by the US army was the Confederacy. I don't agree with the idea of slavery, but I think the reconstruction era is a much larger cause of the racial tensions in the south today than anything else. The blacks were blamed for it (unfairly, it was the politicians)

wanting to get elected. Generations of whites and blacks felt the effects of the harsh treatment of the post war south. And to this day the US government has made no attempt to understand the causes of racial hatred in this country.

I think Roosevelt however made the right choice as I do Bush. Unfortunately Terrorist Armies do not meet your army on the battlefeild and they will never surrender. They don't want us to share our wealth or rebuild their countries, the main goal of the 9/11 attacks was to bring America into a war, have it's people grow weary of it and withdraw our support of Israel.

Answer 1

He would have been impeached.

Answer 2

What if they would have looked at what conditions led to the Axis powers, including Japan and the Nazis to act as they did?

What if they didn't have todays mentality about "evil-doers" who "just hate us"?

They might have spent billions on something stupid like rebuilding those countries, even though we conquered them and they were in the wrong. They might have helped those countries in a generous and non-punitive way. Those countries might have become economic powers and eventual allies, never to threaten us or anyone else, becoming downright pacifists in their policies. They might have done stupid like that and called it "the Marshall Plan."

And yes, possibly, the stupidest question ever asked.

Edit: pretender59321 - Really? No kidding? Wow, what insight! Yes, the crushing Treaty of Versaille was responsible for conditions that led to a freak like Hitler taking power, and I DID think about it.

If we had had the "Germans are evil-doers and hate us just because," then we would have repeated the mistakes of the closing of WWI. Instead, we looked deeper, and did try to understand why the Axis powers acted as they did. That was how the cycle was broken.

By the same token, do you really think that the idea of strapping TNT to ones chest and taking out other people with you is something that motivates people in normal circumstances?

People in the Middle East who are drawn to extremism and terrorism are generally very poor, and they lack a solid education or anything else to allow them to improve their lot of gain a broader perspective. In the meantime, authoritarian regimes get obscenely wealthy and they see none of this.

The poverty, lack of education and inequity all makes it a fertile breeding ground for extremism, which doesn't look so bad when you have nothing to lose and a lot of bitterness to focus. Quite often, those who use them as pawns promise and deliver on improving the lot of their remaining families for their sacrifices. That only becomes an option when you really have no hope for improving your lot in life.

And the West? We've gotten rich along with the despots, exploiting the riches of these countries, we've sometimes propped them up, looked the other way as they abused their own people, or have outright deposed elected leaders with thugs of our own choosing. Unsurprisingly, when you have petty despots propped up by the superpowers of the world, a lot of resentment is pinned on the superpowers, fairly or not.

So, yes, I did think about it, and the parallels are striking.

As they say, those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Maybe you should do some thinking next time.

Answer 3

Can you believe it, him as a Democrat, that he declared war on another nation, times have sure changed , but not really, the Democrats have give Japan enough federal money to rebuild their country into one of the most powerful economic nations on earth, this year , Toyota will pass GM with auto sells

Answer 4

A very good question. If FDR had waited, many more would have died and the communist would have won. Smart man FDR, swift justice , I am for it. When attacked, we need to fight back immediately , instead of taking over six months to get approval, giving enemy time to hide weapons.

Answer 5

I do not even want to ponder that one.If Al Gore had been President on 9/11 we would have found out.

Answer 6

Japan wanted to destroy the navy of Usa, for I believe 6 months... so that they could capture the land they wanted. Thus, making them strong enough to fight Usa.

Answer 7

Good thing Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi, and Jane Fonda weren't around then.

Answer 8

Japan's intent was to keep America out of the war. So, they would have succeeded, at least temporarily.

Answer 9

I think "A day that will live in infamy" sticks in the mind a whole lot better.

Answer 10

We just can't fight a war like we need to any more. The enemy is within us.