An Invitation to War

On this day, in 1941, the united States was invited into a war it had hoped to avoid.

Pearl Harbor was bombed and thousands died.

The next day, President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. He saw no alternative. The nation was under attack and an empire, based upon nationalistic fervor, had determined to advance their imperialistic ends.

It was an invitation that a modern superpower would have found difficult to ignore. The danger was present and evidenced by the attack.

Invitation is an inadequate word. Provocation is more like it.

We are well past the time when we are required to have opinions. We are never past the time when we can and must learn from history. 

We learn from history, how to make history.

Peace is always the mandated goal of nations, but there is always debate over what

"A state of war has existed ..." is how the President phrased it. He had not sought war and was not asking for war. He was saying, "We are at war whether we acknowledge and respond or not."

What can we learn?

I am asking, not telling.

"Mr. President, will all respect, what you're asking, can't be done."