In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a single word favored above all others by Americans as best

characterizing the Japanese people was treacherous. And for the duration of the war, the surprise

attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet remained the preeminent symbol of the enemy's inherent treachery.

The attack also inspired a thirst for revenge among Americans that the Japanese, with their own racial blinders, had failed to anticipate.

American historian John W. Dower.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

The 20th century.

Music The Episode 397.

Pop Goes the Weasel.

The last time I talked about the war in the Pacific was a while ago, episode 382, to be exact.

That episode ended with the failure of the third Japanese offensive on Guadalcanal.

That failure led the Japanese military to an inescapable conclusion.

Retaking Guadalcanal was impossible.

Senior commanders of the Imperial Japanese Navy would have phrased it a little differently.

They would have said, retaking Guadal Canal is impossible because the army is incompetent.

Senior commanders of the Imperial Japanese Army would have had their own way of putting it,

to wit, retaking Guadalcanal is impossible because the Navy is incompetent.

I closed episode 382 by noting that by December 1942 and the first anniversary of the war in the Pacific,

senior Japanese military commanders were literally coming to blows over the failure at Guadalcanal.

Who was to blame and what to do next.

The army had promised the emperor they would retake Guadalcanal and had been determined to keep their promise, if only the accursed navy would give them the proper support.

One army commander compared the Navy's role at Guadalcanal to putting up a ladder so a worker could get on the roof,

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