27th Mar 2003
Divine Winds
Freaky sand storms of biblical magnitude. Makes one think of the defeat of Kubli Kahn’s attempted invasion of Japan, when his massive army confronted “kamikaze”: the Divine Wind.
The story begins in 1274, when Kublai Khan conscripted the newly conquered Korean vassal state of Koryo into abetting his first ill-fated military invasion of Japan. The fleet, purported to consist of 900 warships, encountered initial success before abruptly retreating, perhaps wary of Japanese reinforcements or the region’s notoriously stormy seas.
Whatever the cause, some Japanese accounts invoke strong winds that shifted course on Oct. 20 and forced the Mongols into full retreat. So began the first stirrings of the mythic “divine wind” sent by the gods to protect Japan, an otherworldly force the Japanese would eventually call the “kamikaze.”
The invaders returned in 1281, this time with a fleet that some Chinese sources have numbered as high as 4,400 vessels, the majority procured from the conquered Sung Dynasty of southern China. Historians say strengthened Japanese defenses and a failed military rendezvous forced the bulk of the fleet to set anchor off the southwestern Japanese coast, where the invaders lingered for six weeks. It was there, near the tiny island of Takashima, that disaster struck on July 30 when a typhoon devastated the bulk of the fleet. The boats had been chained together to form a flotilla, pooling the fleet’s military resources but effectively bottling up any escape route to deeper water.
Shock and awe? I’m am shocked and awed and how incredibly badly the Pentagon seems to have planned this thing so far. When I backed their horse with great reluctance, I pretty much assumed the U.S. military had thought this thing through and could deliver without any concern on their promise to easily overwhelm Saddam’s forces. And now they’re surprised by how the Iraqis are fighting? Thanks, once again, CIA. Didn’t we learn any lessons from Vietnam? From watching Saddam’s willingness to gas his own people? From the seige of Stalingrad? (Hint: Saddam is a big fan of Stalan)
The reason people are reluctant to show their faith in their “liberation”? They understand apparently much better than we do the depth of Saddam’s evil genius.
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