All Warfare is Based on Deception

 ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia, James Bradley

In this book, James Bradley details the involvement of the United States in China, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century through the end of World War Two.  I have previously written about his views on Pearl Harbor as he describes in this book, disagreeing with his interpretation.  Despite the disagreement, I find the book very worthwhile in understanding the history of this time and place.

I have struggled with how to write about this book – several posts covering the story in some detail, or one post as an overview.  I have decided on this single, albeit long, post – there is so much to the detail that I would almost re-write the book if I went into any amount of detail.  I think if this overview captures your attention it would seem the best thing I can suggest is to read the book.

The Pusher Don't Care if You Live or if You Die

HT: Hoyt Axton

There is another line from this song (best known version performed by Steppenwolf) that would be more appropriate for this section, but taking the Lord’s name in vain is something I would rather avoid.

The Americans who got rich by supplying opium to the Chinese is almost a who’s who of wealth and power.  Bradley’s primary focus – as it is a name that effected Asia for the next hundred years – is Warren Delano, grandfather of Franklin.  Warren is the first famous (notorious) character for whom I find no Wikipedia page, although if you know where to look you will find him (along with a mention of the opium he traded).

But Warren isn’t alone in creating generational wealth from this trade, for example how about Samuel Russell, founder of Russell and Company (from whom a young Warren secured employ)?  He was cousin of William Huntington Russell who was co-founder of the Skull and Bones Secret Society at Yale University.

In 1856, with several other Bonesmen, [William] incorporated Skull and Bones as the Russell Trust, later the Russell Trust Association.

Then there is Robert Bennet Forbes, a member of the Forbes family of Boston.  From here you will find John Forbes Kerry and Michael Paine.  The first one should be familiar to all, but who is the second?

Lee Harvey Oswald rented a room in Dallas but stored some of his possessions in [Michael] Paine’s garage, including a supposed rifle wrapped in a blanket which Paine thought to be camping equipment. Paine's wife helped Oswald get a job at the Texas School Book Depository. Paine's testimony would later become a central feature of the Warren Commission's investigation of the assassination, particularly in regard to the presence of the purported assassination rifle in the garage of his family home.

Then there is John Perkins Cushing, another Russell and Company Partner.  Is it coincidence that one Caleb Cushing negotiated a treaty designed to continue and expand access to the lucrative trade?

U.S. President John Tyler chose Massachusetts Congressman Caleb Cushing as his representative in treaty negotiations with the Chinese. Cushing and his counterparts reached the terms of the treaty quickly and signed it at Wangxia, a suburb of the Portuguese port city of Macau, in 1844.

Yes, Caleb and John are kin.

That’s enough of that.  From literary effect, it would be appropriate to insert that forbidden (to me) line from the song here.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

HT: Jesus, Son of God

Missionaries played a key role in the development of the relations between the United States and China.  The Chinese would make good Christians, Americans were constantly told.  And American Christians would donate.

The former missionary, Arthur Henderson Smith wrote the most popular manual for American churchmen going to China, Chinese Characteristics:

China can never be reformed from within…She needs a new life in every individual soul…The manifold needs of China…will be met permanently, completely, only by Christian civilization.

Of course, Charles Denby, the US minister to China, had another use for the missionaries:

Missionaries are the pioneers of trade and commerce.

And one of the biggest trades for the Americans was opium; a new meaning to “salt of the earth,” I guess.

I Didn’t Do It

So says James Bradley, speaking for Roosevelt, regarding Pearl Harbor.

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia, by James Bradley.

According to Bradley, it was somebody else (emphasis added):

This is the story of how a few of these officials surreptitiously outmaneuvered and undermined the president of the United States and thrust America into an unwanted Asian war.  My father and millions of others fought in a conflict that didn’t have to happen, a war that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was trying to avoid, one that could have been prevented or delayed if some overconfident administration officials had heeded their president instead of the China Lobby.

One of the most politically savvy presidents in the history of the United States apparently was duped.

This book offers an in-depth look at the American involvement in China in the one-hundred years up to and including World War II; before I review the broader book, I will consider Bradley’s treatment of the Pearl Harbor backstory.

Dean Acheson plays a prominent role in the Pearl Harbor narrative offered by Bradley; Bradley describes him as believing he “existed above mere mortals…strong-willed and overconfident.”  Acheson had little patience or tolerance for a peaceful approach to diplomacy; having been sworn in as undersecretary of state for economic affairs, he called into question Secretary Hull’s deliberate pace:

Acheson complained that Hull was “slow, circuitous, cautious – concentrated on a central political purpose, the freeing of international trade from tariff and other restrictions as the prerequisite to peace and economic development.”  He ridiculed in writing Hull’s oft-repeated goal of “mutually beneficial trade agreements” by making fun of Hull’s speech impediment: “wecipwocal twade aqueements.”

There was a narrative developed within an important subset in Washington: the US could embargo Japan with no repercussions – Japan would back down militarily if dealt with forcefully through sanctions.  Henry Morgenthau accepted this; so did Acheson.  This was the view of the first wise man, Henry Stimson.  There were powerful supporters of this view throughout official and unofficial Washington.

There was also public support in the United States for China and against Japan; that the “China” supported by the American public had nothing in common with the China of the real world was irrelevant to this support.  This political reality is a major part of the history, and will be developed in my future work on this book.

Roosevelt – through Tommy Corcoran – put in place a scheme to utilize private front companies to recruit and pay American pilots outside of government channels – the Flying Tigers (complete with artwork provided by Disney).  Pilots would resign from the Army Air Corp and then immediately be hired for this “private” effort to fly for China.  These fighter squadrons were labeled “advanced training units,” thereby providing additional cover for the United States government. 

Yet, Bradley offers that Roosevelt was almost singularly focused on the war in Europe, quoting FDR: “So long as the Battle of the Atlantic is won everything will be all right.”

Roosevelt had already embargoed oil exports to Japan; according to Bradley, it was a purposely loose embargo (unimportant grades of fuel and oil, etc.); it was meant to pacify those critical of supporting a war-mongering Japan (including the general public) while ensuring at the same time that Japan would not distract from Roosevelt’s desire to remain focused on Europe.

In the ten months following FDR’s July 1940 partial embargo, the Japanese purchased more oil than they had in 1939, and they obtained State-approved licenses for five million gallons more.  Shipments from California to Japan in May of 1941 totaled over two million barrels, a record for the year.

In November 1940, Japan sent Nomura as ambassador to Washington.  It was felt that the signal to Washington would be understood – Nomura was a navy man, and the Japanese navy was opposed to war.  Discussions were held between Nomura and Hull, but Roosevelt wanted these to be kept secret – the American people would not support negotiating with the aggressive Japanese who were fighting against the “friendly” Chinese of Chiang Kai-shek (a public oblivious to the reality of Mao Zedong’s greater influence in China).

Bradley describes the discussions in almost comedic terms – Hull with his speech impediment and Nomura with his barely passable English.  One example will suffice:

Nomura asked Hull a yes or no question: Did the U.S. agree with the draft understanding Japan had submitted?  Nomura struggled to comprehend Hull’s answer: “If your government is in real earnest about changing its course, I can see no good reason why ways could not be found to reach a fairly satisfactory settlement of all the essential questions presented.”

Nomura’s struggle is understandable.  One misunderstanding led to another: Hull’s demand that Japan leave China and Japan’s wish list to include maintaining the Japanese presence in China were thus reconciled!  (The US role in getting Japan into China early in the twentieth century should not be forgotten.)  Thereafter, any consideration that seemed outside of this “agreement” was seen by the other side as back-peddling.

Roosevelt established, in May 1941, the Office of Petroleum Coordinator for National Defense.  This office was to be headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes; he had little experience in foreign policy.  Yet, like Morgenthau, Acheson and others, he felt Hull was a soft secretary of state.

Ickes looked for ways to cut oil exports to Japan, publicly blaming these exports for shortages on the east coast.  Hull complained to Roosevelt, and Roosevelt scolded Ickes: only the president or the secretary of state had authorization to shape foreign policy.  According to Bradley, Roosevelt still wanted to provide all the oil Japan wanted, in order to avoid being drawn into a war in Asia.

Sneak Preview

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia, by James Bradley

I am just finishing this book, the second I have read by Bradley.  The first, The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War, was a very worthwhile read.  I offered two posts from the book.  The first regarding US colonialism in the Pacific, and specifically the Philippines; the second regarding the US greenlighting of Japanese militarism against Korea and China.

The current book offers the history of the US role in China, beginning in the nineteenth century and continuing to and through the Second World War.  It is a story ranging from the opium that secured the wealth for some of the most prominent families in America to missionary zeal to the woman behind the throne to the value of propaganda to the real leader of China.

I still have no clear view regarding how I will present this book: as a one-post overview or several posts offering greater detail.  If several posts, how will I organize these?  One thing is certain: Bradley offers dozens of important dates and events that will be added to my Timeline To War.

By now, you must be wondering…why is bionic bothering me with any of this?  I will tell you: while I still don’t know how I will present the book, one story begs for individual, stand-alone treatment: the backstory (as Bradley tells it) regarding Pearl Harbor.

This isn’t that post either, but I don’t want to contaminate that post with this background.  However, I feel it worthwhile to present the background.  In the meantime, I will offer one clue as to Bradley’s view on the Pearl Harbor backstory (emphasis added):

This is the story of how a few of these officials surreptitiously outmaneuvered and undermined the president of the United States and thrust America into an unwanted Asian war.  My father and millions of others fought in a conflict that didn’t have to happen, a war that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was trying to avoid, one that could have been prevented or delayed if some overconfident administration officials had heeded their president instead of the China Lobby.

The post should be available in the coming days.

The US Greenlights Militaristic Japan

From an article at LRC, by John Pilger; in this article, he comments on a book by Bruce Cumings, “The Korean War: A History.”

Like most Koreans, the farmers and fishing families protested the senseless division of their nation between north and south in 1945 – a line drawn along the 38th Parallel by an American official, Dean Rusk, who had “consulted a map around midnight on the day after we obliterated Nagasaki with an atomic bomb,” wrote Cumings.

In fact, Korea, north and south, has a remarkable people’s history of resistance to feudalism and foreign occupation, notably Japan’s in the 20th century. When the Americans defeated Japan in 1945, they occupied Korea and often branded those who had resisted the Japanese as “commies”.

Wasn’t resisting Japan what the Americans were doing for almost four years?  Does this make the Americans “commies” as well?  Perhaps we could ask America’s greatest ally during the war what he thinks.  But I digress.

Cumings exposes as propaganda the notion that Kim IL Sung, leader of the “bad” Korea, was a stooge of Moscow. In contrast, the regime that Washington invented in the south, the “good” Korea, was run largely by those who had collaborated with Japan and America. (emphasis added)

The United States defeated Japan in World War II, mercilessly bombing countless civilians in the process, and then immediately used Japanese connections to control South Korea – an artificial creation of an American giddy with nuclear success.  This statement regarding Koreans who had collaborated with Japan and America is actually a nice bow tied around a gift that was first purchased forty years earlier – in 1905.

What was the gift?

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War, by James Bradley

This “gift” is described well in this book by Bradley:

In the summer of 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt – known as Teddy to the public – dispatched the largest diplomatic delegation to Asia in U.S. history: Teddy sent his secretary of war, seven senators, twenty-three congressman, various military and civilian officials, and his daughter on an ocean liner from San Francisco to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, Korea, then back to San Francisco. (P. 1)

Roosevelt was confident that the future of the United States would be determined more by its position facing China than in its position facing Europe.  Certainly, the position in Europe already had a strong foothold, via the Anglo-American empire and America’s emerging role in it.

Roosevelt’s held a superior view of the great Anglo race – emerging from the Caucasus, moving through central Europe (the Germanic tribes), on to England then the eastern fringe of North America.  From there, an entire continent was conquered.  Roosevelt saw the next steps to the west, meaning the entire Pacific, even unto China.

And for this, he sent the delegation, led by William Howard Taft.  Their purpose was to secure the continuation of this tribal wandering to the west. 

What is the tie to this statement, referenced above, by Pilger?

…behind [Roosevelt’s] Asian whispers that critical summer of 1905 was a very big stick – the bruises from which would catalyze World War II in the Pacific, the Chinese Communist Revolution, the Korean War, and an array of tensions that inform our lives today.  The twentieth-century American experience in Asia would follow in the diplomatic wake first churned by Theodore Roosevelt. (P. 4)

To gain a foothold in Asia, Roosevelt felt it necessary to gain an ally in the region – one to do the heavy lifting.  His problem – there was no Anglo presence capable of the task, unlike the migrating tribes that ended up reaching the Pacific coast of the New World.  Japan was to play the part of “Anglo” – don’t ask, I will come to this later.

The White Man’s Burden

Of course, this refers to Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem.

Did you know the complete title is "The White Man's Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands"?  I didn’t.

It was originally published in the popular magazine McClure's in 1899, with the subtitle The United States and the Philippine Islands.  The poem was originally written for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, but exchanged for "Recessional"; Kipling changed the text of "Burden" to reflect the subject of American colonization of the Philippines, recently won from Spain in the Spanish-American War.

There are different interpretations of the poem, ranging from a racist call for the white man to rule the dark skinned all the way to satire – an interpretation I would greatly prefer; unfortunately Kipling’s actions surrounding the poem, his interactions with Teddy Roosevelt, and the events in the Philippines kind of get in the way:

In September 1898 Kipling wrote to Roosevelt, stating 'Now go in and put all the weight of your influence into hanging on permanently to the whole Philippines. America has gone and stuck a pickaxe into the foundations of a rotten house and she is morally bound to build the house over again from the foundations or have it fall about her ears'.  He forwarded the poem to Roosevelt in November of the same year, just after Roosevelt was elected Governor of New York.

Teddy Roosevelt?  Why would he write to Roosevelt in September 1898?  Why send the poem on this subject to him in November of the same year?  During this time, Roosevelt had no office that would make such a communication relevant:

·        He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy from April 19, 1897 – May 10, 1898

·        He was Governor of New York from January 1, 1899 – December 31, 1900

·        He was Vice-President of the United States from March 4, 1901 – September 14, 1901

·        He was President of the United States from September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909 – succeeding William McKinley, who left office due to a combination of an inconvenient bullet and perhaps a less-than-capable physician.

In the fall of 1898, Roosevelt had no official office – yet Kipling sent the poem to him.  Not to McKinley, who was President at the time; not to John D. Long, who was Secretary of the Navy.

No, he sent it to Roosevelt.

I have written before about the assassination of McKinley – the assassination that began the century of war.  Citing Schultze-Rhonhof:

Until McKinley’s presidency, the relations of the USA with the German Reich were always friendly and balanced.  The English-American relationship, on the other hand, up to then is still burdened by the former British Colonial rule and England’s colonial wars in America.

With the assassination of McKinley in 1901 and the change to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt a new kind of thinking arises in the USA.  (Page 32)

What difference was there between McKinley and Roosevelt, I wondered – both progressive, both taking steps toward empire?  I searched for clues.