When the Japanese Navy bombed and strafed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, almost 76 years ago the Empire of Japan became our mortal enemy. The United States was immediately entangled in a war that started several years before as Hitler’s Nazi forces unleashed his depraved atrocities on neighboring countries in central Europe.
The conflict became WWII with the ‘Axis Powers’ of Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan. Sensing the potential response of the United States industrial and military might, Admiral Yamamoto is reported to have said: “I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
The Admiral was correct in his assessment as the Empire suffered the anguish and desolation of the first two atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, 1945, killing and wounding thousands of civilians and military people and destroying factories that turned out munitions and other war materiel.
Stalin’s Russia was one of our allies along with Britain and other countries that maintained ‘underground’ allied support. At war’s end, Germany was partitioned and went through countless changes of political and government control. On June 12th, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made his memorable speech that ended with the words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.’ In 1989, the wall came down and Germany began its reunification.
Now, let’s fast-forward to today, August 2017. Germany, Japan and Italy are friendly with the United States. Germany’s economy is the largest among the 27 European Union nations with annual GDP of $3.5 trillion, holds $68 billion of U.S. Treasury securities and trades with us to the tune of $163.5 billion annually in goods and services (exports + imports). Japan’s economy is 3rd highest of independent nations in the world at $4.9 trillion, the largest holder of U.S. Treasury securities at $1.1 trillion and annual U.S. trade amounts to $195 billion. Italy’s GDP is $1.9 trillion, holds $37 billion of treasury debt and our trade totals $62 billion.
Russia has become adversarial with the U.S. and most other western nations. Total trade for the first six months of 2017 has amounted to about $11 billion and their economy is smaller than Canada’s $1.5 trillion; Russia’s economy (GDP) amounts to about $1.3 trillion. The U.S. economy (GDP) is the world’s largest at $18.6 trillion. Russia’s population is 9th in the world at 143 million, yet they are an autocratic international bully.
It seems that Putin is trying to rebuild the USSR using all the satellite countries that slipped out of the noose of Russian oppression almost 30 years ago. An excuse might be that those countries were once members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Russia is doing some very serious meddling in Syria, Iran and other countries. Russia is cozy with neighbor Cuba. Meetings with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan suggest that he is about to sign up for a $2.5 billion deal that would bring a Russian S-400 air-defense system to Turkey. Putin is romancing the military folks in Egypt to replace the arms transfers that Obama withheld from Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. Russian operatives in the Balkans are being prosecuted for their efforts to kill Montenegro’s Prime Minister. Russia may be receiving $76 billion for as many as eight nuclear power plants in South Africa. Some mysterious Russian facilities are on the list for construction in Managua, Nicaragua.
Putin and his operatives are trying to upset the world balance of power, yet liberal progressive democrats are staging a four-year plan of attack against our President in search of Russian intervention or collusion in our recent election.
The Democrats have shifted their allegiance from their constituents over to venom and outrage against president Trump and his administration’s budget control, tax reform, healthcare and security. You may remember that Valerie Jarrett moved into the Obama household after the election. It is probable that our former president calls out the evil directions for upsetting our government order. The Democratic vacuum of leadership is predictably being fulfilled by Mr. Obama; but the media will never report this malicious activity.
Sophistry by bitter Democrats makes a mockery of our constitutional government and the freedoms we enjoy.
