We Need FDR Back

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 9, President Roosevelt made an incredibly stirring speech to the nation. In his words, you hear the echoes of a great nation – echoes of a people that were principled, proud, and willing to sacrifice their lives and their national treasure for freedom and the future of their children. In the speech, Roosevelt explained why war was necessary, why victory was necessary at any cost, and what responsibilities each bore to help achieve that victory.

I think very few people today have read this speech, though it is one that should be required reading for every high school student in this country – as well as every elected official. It is at once incredibly uplifting in the picture it paints of how Americans coalesced and sacrificed to win the Second World War - and it is incredibly saddening in its direct contrasts to our nation and the entire Western world today.

Today we face, in Wahhabi / Salafi radical Islam and in a Khomeinist Iran seeking nuclear weapons, essentially the same existential threat that our forefathers faced. Everyone should read this speech to understand the parallels to out current situation and to understand how we, as a nation, once did – and now must – face such threats or be undone.

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"There is no such thing as security for any nation-or any individual-in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism."

Address over the radio following the declaration of a state of war with the Japanese Empire, December 9, 1941

The sudden criminal attacks perpetrated by the Japanese in the Pacific provide the climax of a decade of international immorality. Powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. Their challenge has now been flung at the United States of America. The Japanese have treacherously violated the long- standing peace between us. Many American soldiers and sailors have been killed by enemy action. American ships have been sunk, American airplanes have been destroyed.

The Congress and the people of the United States have accepted that challenge. Together with other free peoples, we are now fighting to maintain our right to live among our world neighbors in freedom and in common decency, without fear of assault.

I have prepared the full record of our past relations with Japan, and it will be submitted to the Congress. It begins with the visit of Commodore Perry to Japan 88 years ago. It ends with the visit of two Japanese emissaries to the Secretary of State last Sunday, an hour after Japanese forces had loosed their bombs and machine guns against our flag, our forces, and our citizens. I can say with utmost confidence that no Americans today or a thousand years hence, need feel anything but pride in our patience and our efforts through all the years toward achieving a peace in the Pacific which would be fair and honorable to every nation, large or small. And no honest person, today or a thousand years hence, will be able to suppress a sense of indignation and horror at the treachery committed by the military dictators of Japan, under the very shadow of the flag of peace borne by their special envoys in our midst. The course that Japan has followed for the past 10 years in Asia has paralleled the course of Hitler and Mussolini in Europe and Africa. Today, it has become far more than a parallel. It is collaboration so well calculated that all the continents of the world, and all the oceans, are now considered by the Axis strategists as one gigantic battlefield.

In 1931, Japan invaded Manchukuo-without warning.

In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia-without warning.

In 1938, Hitler occupied Austria-without warning.

In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia-without warning.

Later in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland-without warning.

In 1940, Hitler invaded Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg-without warning.

In 1940, Italy attacked France and later Greece-without warning.

In 1941, the Axis Powers attacked Jugoslavia and Greece and they dominated the Balkans-without warning.

In 1941, Hitler invaded Russia-without warning.

And now Japan has attacked Malaya and Thailand-and the United States- without warning. It is all of one pattern.

We are now in this war. We are all in it-all the way. Every single man, woman, and child is a partner in the most tremendous undertaking of our American history. We must share together the bad news and the good news, the defeats and the victories-the changing fortunes of war.

So far, the news has all been bad. We have suffered a serious setback in Hawaii. Our forces in the Philippines, which include the brave people of that commonwealth, are taking punishment, but are defending themselves vigorously. The reports from Guam and Wake and Midway Islands are still confused, but we must be prepared for the announcement that all these three outposts have been seized. The casualty lists of these first few days will undoubtedly be large. I deeply feel the anxiety of all families of the men in our armed forces and the relatives of people in cities which have been bombed. I can only give them my solemn promise that they will get news just as quickly as possible.

This Government will put its trust in the stamina of the American people, and will give the facts to the public as soon as two conditions have been fulfilled. First, that the information has been definitely and officially confirmed; and, second, that the release of the information at the time it is received will not prove valuable to the enemy directly or indirectly.

Most earnestly I urge my countrymen to reject all rumors. These ugly little hints of complete disaster fly thick and fast in wartime. They have to be examined and appraised. As an example, I can tell you frankly that until further surveys are made, I have not sufficient information to state the exact damage which has been done to our naval vessels at Pearl Harbor. Admittedly the damage is serious. But no one can say how serious, until we know how much of this damage can be repaired and how quickly the necessary repairs can be made. I cite as another example a statement made on Sunday night that a Japanese carrier had been located and sunk off the Canal Zone.

And when you hear statements that are attributed to what they call "an authoritative source," you can be reasonably sure that under these war circumstances the "authoritative source" was not any person in authority. Many rumors and reports which we now hear originate with enemy sources.

For instance, today the Japanese are claiming that as a result of their one action against Hawaii they have gained naval supremacy in the Pacific. This is an old trick of propaganda which has been used innumerable times by the Nazis. The purposes of such fantastic claims are, of course, to spread fear and confusion among us, and to goad us into revealing military information which our enemies are desperately anxious to obtain. Our Government will not be caught in this obvious trap-and neither will our people.

It must be remembered by each and every one of us that our free and rapid communication must be greatly restricted in wartime. It is not possible to receive full, speedy, accurate reports from distant areas of combat. This is particularly true where naval operations are concerned. For in these days of the marvels of radio it is often impossible for the commanders of various units to report their activities by radio, for the very simple reason that this information would become available to the enemy, and would disclose their position and their plan of defense or attack. Of necessity there will be delays in officially confirming or denying reports of operations but we will not hide facts from the country if we know the facts and if the enemy will not be aided by their disclosure.

To all newspapers and radio stations-all those who reach the eyes and ears of the American people-I say this: You have a most grave responsibility to the Nation now and for the duration of this war. If you feel that your Government is not disclosing enough of the truth, you have very right to say so. But-in the absence of all the facts, as revealed by official sources-you have no right to deal out unconfirmed reports in such a way as to make people believe they are gospel truth. Every citizen, in every walk of life, shares this same responsibility. The lives of our soldiers and sailors-the whole future of this Nation- depend upon the manner in which each and every one of us fulfills his obligation to our country.

Now a word about the recent past-and the future. A year and a half has elapsed since the fall of France, when the whole world first realized the mechanized might which the Axis nations had been building for so many years. America has used that year and a half to great advantage.

Knowing that the attack might reach us in all too short a time, we immediately began greatly to increase our industrial strength and our capacity to meet the demands of modern warfare. Precious months were gained by sending vast quantities of our war materials to the nations of the world still able to resist Axis aggression.

Our policy rested on the fundamental truth that the defense of any country resisting Hitler or Japan was in the long run the defense of our own country. That policy has been justified. It has given us time, invaluable time, to build our American assembly lines of production. Assembly lines are now in operation. Others are being rushed to completion. A steady stream of tanks and planes, of guns and ships, of shells and equipment-that is what these 18 months have given us. But it is all only a beginning of what has to be done.

We must be set to face a long war against crafty and powerful bandits. The attack at Pearl Harbor can be repeated at any one of many points in both oceans and along both our coast lines and against all the rest of the hemisphere. It will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war. That is the basis on which we now lay all our plans. That is the yardstick by which we measure what we shall need and demand-money, materials, doubled and quadrupled production, ever increasing.

The production must be not only for our own Army and Navy and air forces. It must reinforce the other armies and navies and air forces fighting the Nazis and the war lords of Japan throughout the Americas and the world. I have been working today on the subject of production. Your Government has decided on two broad policies. The first is to speed up all existing production by working on a 7-day- week basis in every war industry, including the production of essential raw materials.

The second policy, now being put into form, is to rush additions to the capacity of production by building more new plants, by adding to old plants, and by using the many smaller plants for war needs. Over the hard road of the past months we have at times met obstacles and difficulties, divisions and disputes, indifference and callousness. That is now all past and, I am sure forgotten.

The fact is that the country now has an organization in Washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields. I think the country knows that the people who are actually responsible in each and every one of these many fields are pulling together with a teamwork that has never before been excelled. On the road ahead there lies hard work-grueling work-day and night, every hour and every minute.

I was about to add that ahead there lies sacrifice for all of us. But it is not correct to use that word. The United States does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one's best to our Nation when the Nation is fighting for its existence and its future life.

It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or the Navy of the United States. Rather is it a privilege.

It is not a sacrifice for the industrialist or the wage earner, the farmer or the shopkeeper, the trainman or the doctor, to pay more taxes, to buy more bonds, to forego extra profits, to work longer or harder at the task for which he is best fitted. Rather is it a privilege.

It is not a sacrifice to do without many things to which we are accustomed if the national defense calls for doing without. A review this morning leads me to the conclusion that at present we shall not have to curtail the normal articles of food. There is enough food for all of us and enough left over to send to those who are fighting on the same side with us. There will be a clear and definite shortage of metals of many kinds for civilian use, for the very good reason that in our increased program we shall need for war purposes more than half of that portion of the principal metals which during the past year have gone into articles for civilian use.

We shall have to give up many things entirely. I am sure that the people in every part of the Nation are prepared in their individual living to win this war. I am sure they will cheerfully help to pay a large part of its financial cost while it goes on I am sure they will cheerfully give up those material things they are asked to give up. I am sure that they will retain all those great spiritual things without which we cannot win through.

I repeat that the United States can accept no result save victory, final and complete. Not only must the shame of Japanese treachery be wiped out, but the sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken.

In my message to the Congress yesterday I said that take very certain that this form of treachery shall never we "will endanger us again." In order to achieve that certainty, we must begin the great task that is before us by abandoning once and for all the illusion that we can ever again isolate ourselves from the rest of humanity.

In these past few years-and, most violently, in the past few days-we have learned a terrible lesson. It is our obligation to our dead-it is our sacred obligation to their children and our children-that we must never forget what we have learned. And what we all have learned is this: There is no such thing as security for any nation-or any individual-in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism. There is no such thing as impregnable defense against powerful aggressors who sneak up in the dark and strike without warning.

We have learned that our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack-that we cannot measure our safety in terms of miles on any map. We may acknowledge that our enemies have performed a brilliant feat of deception, perfectly timed and executed with great skill. It was a thoroughly dishonorable deed, but we must face the fact that modern warfare as conducted in the Nazi manner is a dirty business. We don't like it-we didn't want to get in it-but we are in it and we're going to fight it with everything we've got.

I do not think any American has any doubt of our ability to administer proper punishment to the perpetrators of these crimes. Your Government knows that for weeks Germany has been telling Japan that if Japan did not attack the United States, Japan would not share in dividing the spoils with Germany when peace came. She was promised by Germany that if she came in she would receive the complete and perpetual control of the whole of the Pacific area-and that means not only the Far East, not only all of the islands in the Pacific but also a stranglehold on the west coast of North, Central, and South America.

We also know that Germany and Japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. . . .

The true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. When we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. We Americans are not destroyers; we are builders. We are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this Nation, and all that this Nation represents, will be safe for our children. We expect to eliminate the danger from Japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by Hitler and Mussolini.

We are going to win the war, and we are going to win the peace that follows. And in the dark hours of this day-and through dark days that may be yet to come-we will know that the vast majority of the members of the human race are on our side. Many of them are fighting with us. All of them are praying for us. For, in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well-our hope and their hope for liberty under God.

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In World War II, over a four year period, we sustained casualties of over 400,000 deaths and close to 700,000 wounded. At no point did the Congress vote to end our involvement in the war or to begin drawing down our military in Europe or the Pacific on a date certain. The Republican opposition in Congress was loyal and patriotic, placing national security ahead of any thoughts of partisan politics. Today, we have sustained a little over 3,311 dead from our operation in Iraq, and the opposition in Congress, anything but loyal and patriotic, is doing all they can to end our involvement in Iraq, including by buying votes on a massive scale and coercing its members to vote to end the war. Indeed, Democrats no longer conceed that we are even involved in a global war on terror.

You will recall FDR’s request to the press, above, to act responsibly. Since 2003, the New York Times and other major newspapers have routinely divulged classified information that has damaged our nation’s ability to protect its citizens. Indeed, Dana Priest won a Pulitzer Prize for such reporting last year. I am unaware of any newspaper knowingly divulging classified material during World War II.

FDR asked the press not to speculate or to rely on any but official sources. Yet in today’s newspapers, questionable sources are not only relied upon, but often treated as more authoritative then the military and government sources. The most recent example of this is the New York Times, in their treatment of the protest marches in Najaf, discounting the military’s figures in order to drive home a point to its readers. And at times it gets worse, when the MSM knowingly lie to the people about the war in Iraq. There is nothing loyal or patriotic about mainstream media in the United States today.

When FDR saw war was imminent, he made every effort to increase both the size of the military and to provide fully for its equipment. Today, four years into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, our equipment posture is horrendous and the size of our military is at its smallest since 1945. These shortcomings up until 2003 must be shared by all prior administrations. But since 2003, that fault must be laid squarely at the doorstep of the Bush administration and the Republican majority in Congress – with record setting budgets, but not emphasis on a wartime military. We are paying the price for that lack of foresight today, yet I have not heard Bush address issue – only Jack Murtha.

Protection of our country was once a thing of which to be proud. Indeed, as FDR said, “The United States does not consider it a sacrifice to do all one can, to give one's best to our Nation when the Nation is fighting for its existence and its future life. It is not a sacrifice for any man, old or young, to be in the Army or the Navy of the United States. Rather is it a privilege.” That does not seem to be the case today, where John Kerry indicates that only the stupid end up in the military, and Barak Obama opines that our soldiers killed in Iraq have “wasted” their lives. Today, volunteers for the army are at the highest level they have been in ten years – but that is in spite of our elected representatives in Congress, who seem to view our soldiers with barely concealed scorn. I will only add here that I served in the military as a United States Infantry officer, and I am very proud that. The only thing of which I am more proud is that one of my children is a member of the U.S. Army, and my other child expects to join the service this year. Service to our nation is in fact an honor and a privilege.

As FDR said, "The fact is that the country now has an organization in Washington built around men and women who are recognized experts in their own fields." Yet, today, in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi chooses partisan political figures to head the most important posts based upon loyalty, not competence. She appointed Sylvester Reyes to be Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee over a far more qualified candidate. Chairman Reyes, in an interview shortly after his appointment, was unable to distinguish between the Sunni and Shia forms of Islam.

We have lived in a free and democratic world since 1945 for one reason – as FDR said “the United States can accept no result save victory, final and complete. Not only must the shame of Japanese treachery be wiped out, but the sources of international brutality, wherever they exist, must be absolutely and finally broken.” If we do not break the back of radical Islam and the nuclear threat posed by Iran, our children will never know the security that have allowed us to bask in a massive national narcissism since the 1960’s. The not so loyal opposition of today is quite willing to gamble – if not outright sacrifice – that security upon the alter of political power. A war lasting more then four years, but with about 1% of the casualties sustained in World War II, does not feel good. And because it does not feel good – and because it presents an opportunity to take power – they can accept a result other then victory. It is craven, cynical, and quite potentially suicidal.

As FDR said, “We must be set to face a long war against crafty and powerful bandits. The attack at Pearl Harbor can be repeated at any one of many points in both oceans and along both our coast lines and against all the rest of the hemisphere. It will not only be a long war, it will be a hard war. That is the basis on which we now lay all our plans. That is the yardstick by which we measure what we shall need and demand-money, materials, doubled and quadrupled production, ever increasing.” Yet, today the Democratic mantra to attack the war is that Bush wants an “open ended commitment and a blank check.” Those are not reasons to quit a war in Iraq where we are engaging both radical Islamists and Khomeinist Iran. As FDR I think would say, the commitment ends when victory is achieved, and the costs of that victory, no matter how dear, will be far less then the costs for not achieving a victory.

In World War II, FDR authorized the incredibly dangerous D-Day operation that saw the U.S. and allied forces gain a foothold in Europe against tremendous German opposition, and at tremendous cost in loss of life. At no time during this operation did the press of that era call for it to end, arguing that could not succeed. Yet today, we have Harry Reid, Joe Biden, and the editors of the New York Times arguing that the surge, still in its nascent beginnings, cannot possibly succeed and that we should withdraw from Iraq immediately. Having all changed their tune to one of defeat, they want to insure that the surge is not given a chance to succeed. Apparently while the Bush doctrine calls for preemptive war against our national enemies, the Democrat's doctrine calls for preemptive war against Bush and the surge.

As FDR said, “There is no such thing as security for any nation-or any individual-in a world ruled by the principles of gangsterism. There is no such thing as impregnable defense against powerful aggressors who sneak up in the dark and strike without warning. We have learned that our ocean-girt hemisphere is not immune from severe attack-that we cannot measure our safety in terms of miles on any map.” Can that description be anymore apt to the situation we face today? We will either defeat radical Islam and Khomeinist Shiaism, or we, and then our children, will be ever at risk of catastrophic attack anywhere in the world, including at home in the United States. Leaving Iraq to be fought over by radical Sunnis and Khomeinists from Iran is a sure ticket to this future of insecurity and looming chaos.

And lastly, FDR said “through dark days that may be yet to come-we will know that the vast majority of the members of the human race are on our side. Many of them are fighting with us. All of them are praying for us. For, in representing our cause, we represent theirs as well.” In fighting to protect ourselves, we are also fighting to protect Europe from this scourge of radical Islam. Yet America is hated and reviled on the Continent, and in Germany, many believe that America is more a threat to world peace then the theocracy in Iran. And when Iran kidnapped fifteen UK sailors and marines who were conducting a UN mandated mission, not a single European nation offered to assist. Suicidally, these nations, after fifty years of being protected by the U.S., are acting as if they bear no responsibility for their own defense, nor the continued existence of their individual cultures. But for the UK, precious few of the continental European nations are “on our side” today.

Rereading FDR, it is clear that the people that fought German and Japanese aggression, their values and mores, are in large measure gone from the West today. But I posit that our only hope of survival depends on recapturing them.