The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #96454   Message #1897738
Posted By: Little Hawk
01-Dec-06 - 03:17 PM
Thread Name: BS: Immediate vs phased withdrawal from Iraq
Subject: RE: BS: Immediate vs phased withdrawal from Iraq
I think Roosevelt and his key people were surprised only in one sense, by the way. They did not realize what an efficient, modern, and capable military force the Japanese had or how complete their early victories would be. That surprised everyone, even the Japanese themselves.

As such, it probably upset Mr Roosevelt a bit. ;-) After all, the Japanese planes were supposed to be inferior copies of outmoded American designs, and their soldiers were supposed to be bucktoothed, nearsighted, incompetent little fanatics who could not possibly beat a western force in the field, right?

And battleships were supposed to be unsinkable by airplanes when maneuvering freely at sea too, weren't they? Just ask Winston Churchill about that.

Yes, the Japanese had a few surprises up their sleeve in '41.