Ten Years Later, 9/11 Reveals Depth of American Decline

By Michael Filozof

On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. The attack took place on a remote U.S. territory 2,500 miles from the American mainland. The targets were entirely military; of the 2,400 killed, virtually all were active duty military personnel. In response to the attack, Congress officially declared war. The U.S. conscripted 12 million into the armed forces out of a population of 140 million. With unprecedented unity, Americans -- rich and poor, Republican and Democrat -- answered the call. President Franklin Roosevelt, serving an unheard-of third term, put the economy on a total war footing. Ford and GM ceased producing cars and made B-24 Liberators and M1 Carbines instead. Citizens of Japanese descent were interned for the duration of the war, an action fully sanctioned by Article 1, Sec. 9 of the U.S. Constitution. No one called Roosevelt a dictator or likened him to Adolf Hitler. America fought not just Japan, but fascism everywhere. American ground forces first engaged the Vichy French,.... (Read Full Article)