...for exactly this reason:
we would now be heavily equipped to fight exactly the wrong kind of war.

The fortuitous absence of the aircraft carriers from Pearl, along with the destruction of so many battleships, forced the US Navy to fight a new kind of war -- war in the air. The Japanese were already there, and they knew. Their officers were distressed that the carriers were away from the base. America played the cards she was dealt that day at Midway.

Americans work very well in a crisis. Improv brings out the best in us. (Long-range planning, we seem to have more trouble with...) Not being prepared for the wrong thing is a kind of backwards good luck that has happened to this nation before. We are very good at the punt return, and very, very good at poker.

Also: does it not make you wonder why high-ranking Administration officials are going on American television (as if only Americans watch) to tell us that we're not prepared to wage war? Two thoughts occur to me:

First, Bush is trying to take the edge off of criticism among his own loyalists ("We can't whip their asses because Clinton sold all the whips.") while he tries a diplomatic alternative. It's true that we can turn vast tracts of real estate to radioactive glass or pock-marked wastelands, but that's not peace, only quiet. For a while. If you were President, would you rather try to talk your way to peace before you shot up the place?

Second, why would Bush's people tell the world that we're weak, unless there is some advantage to having that known, or believed? This is a domestic political tactic. There is a tax hike in our future, to finance the new military. We are being prepared. The cat is on the roof.

Regards--
Mary Anne