Sneak Attacks

In retrospect, the warning signs were there. Italian authorities taped suspected al-Qaeda operatives discussing an imminent attack on the enemies of Islam. The FBI discovered that Arab men learning to fly in Arizona were Islamic extremists who hated the United States. And people saw men without baggage loitering around airport gates or on transcontinental flights, taking notes.

After the September 11 surprise attack, Americans demanded to know why U.S. intelligence failed to uncover the plot. Lost from common historical memory is the fact that Japan's December 7, 1941, sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was no different. Then too, there was a complicated web of warnings that seem obvious--at least with 20/20 hindsight.

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