Eighty years ago today, a new radar system on the northern tip of Oahu provided unheeded warnings of unknown airplanes approaching the island.
The result stands as a lesson in complacency and a lack of preparation. And it serves as a reminder that the United States must remain diligent in understanding and confronting threats to our national security.
On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, the forces of Imperial Japan struck the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Some 2,400 Americans were killed in the surprise attack, which triggered the U.S. entry into World War II.
While the Pearl Harbor attack and the ensuing four years of conflict transformed the United States and its role in global politics, it also demonstrated how history often turns on small details.
An hour before Japanese planes arrived at Pearl Harbor, George E. Elliott Jr. was operating radar equipment when he noticed a large blip approaching the island. After a call to a supervisor, the incident was dismissed and attributed to American B-17 bombers arriving from the mainland.
Instead, it was 183 Japanese fighter planes that soon began dropping bombs and torpedoes at Pearl Harbor. The attack was the culmination of a lengthy and surreptitious mission. Japanese ships had traveled more than 3,000 miles over nearly two weeks before launching their planes — all while remaining undetected.
An early warning likely would not have prevented the attack, but it could have lessened its impact.
In that regard, Pearl Harbor was not unlike the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when warnings went unheeded and a nation was caught off guard. The fact that the 9/11 events struck civilian targets rather than a military installation added a new level of concern to the issue of national security.
That issue must always be preeminent for elected officials, but the focus should not be as narrow as the public often believes. Protecting our nation’s interests and protecting her people includes secure borders, robust diplomatic efforts and military intervention when necessary. But it also includes addressing climate change, being prepared for a pandemic, and securing elections from foreign and domestic interference.
For example, an October report from the Department of Defense said climate change is challenging U.S. national security in tangible ways. “Increasing temperatures; changing precipitation patterns; and more frequent, intense, and unpredictable extreme weather conditions caused by climate change are exacerbating existing risks,” the report reads.
For another example, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reaches beyond public health and economic concerns. A report this year from CNA, a research and analysis organization dedicated to national security, found that nontraditional threats provide fuel for traditional threats such as violent extremist organizations.
Those organizations “will exploit the COVID-19 crisis to further their ideological and political agendas, and will integrate current events into existing narratives to substantiate their predictions and calls to action.”
We ignore warnings at our peril. In the case of Pearl Harbor, the attack eight decades ago still lingers as a “date that will live in infamy.” Four battleships were sunk, along with other vessels. The USS Arizona remains at the bottom of the harbor, with more than 900 bodies entombed after several hundred were removed from the ship.
Ceremonies today will include several survivors. Ensuring that the United States is prepared for the threats facing our nation is the best way to honor them.
