Shades of Pearl
Harbor filter through
this new horror

Though both took place on
American soil, this one
targeted innocent civilians

---

By David Briscoe
Associated Press

WASHINGTON >> Another day will "live in infamy" -- another unseen enemy attacks America from the air on a peaceful morning.

But the differences are staggering. Yesterday's attacks struck at the heart of America's financial and military power, and the casualties are potentially far worse than the day nearly 60 years ago when America suffered surprise attack at Pearl Harbor.

"America is forever changed," Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said yesterday. "This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it. It's that serious."

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon yesterday and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, shared one critical element: surprise.

Both came without warning against a people unprepared for such devastating attack. One came in the midst of growing world war, the other in a time of supposed peace.

The lessons of preparedness learned from the Pearl Harbor attack failed in the collapse of America's most prominent financial landmark -- already hit by terrorists in 1993 -- and in the attack on the very center of American military power.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew America into World War II and ultimately led to the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese surrender. It also galvanized Americans for the war effort and led to later-acknowledged injustices against loyal Japanese Americans.

The latest attack had an immediate impact across the country. Airports were closed, schools let out, events canceled, with the threat of more far-reaching impact.

At Pearl Harbor, 2,388 Americans died, all but 48 were military personnel. The deaths in the hijacking and suicide crash of four airliners were still being counted yesterday. Most of the victims appeared to be civilian or non-combat military people.

There were other differences in the two attacks,

Hawaii in 1941 was a territory of the United States but not yet a state.

The enemy then was clear. Planes marked with the Japanese rising sun hammered U.S. ships in Pearl Harbor.

The 2001 terrorists remained anonymous, using American civilian airliners, apparently commandeering the cockpits on coordinated suicide missions. Two planes destroyed the World Trade Center towers, one disintegrated against the outer rings of the Pentagon and a fourth crash-landed near Pittsburgh.

Japan targeted a military base far from America's seat of power. The latest terrorists struck much closer.

"This was a sneak attack at the heart of the United States that was not prevented," said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, a member of the Senate intelligence committee.

The Pearl Harbor attack put Hawaii under military control. Gas was rationed and liquor sales banned. Residents feared a full-scale Japanese troop invasion. Stores admitted only a few shoppers at a time to avoid panic buying.

In addition to the loss of lives, four ships and 188 planes were destroyed, with others damaged. Loss of life and property in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania from the latest attack were likely to be far greater.