The New York Times (July 25, 1940)
U.S. IN PACIFIC HELD TO BE IMPREGNABLE
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But Force and Position Offer Only Defense – Chance of Offensive Role Slim
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EUROPEAN EVENTS VITAL
By Hanson W. Baldwin
The Shanghai dispute between United States Marines and the Japanese Army, the closing of the Burma Road by the British and the change of government in Japan provided a new climax last week in the sanguinary drama of the Far East and invited sharp attention to the strategic position of the United States in the Pacific.
The strategic position of the nation, however, is not so variable a thing. In the Pacific, the Continental United States, in fact the Western Hemisphere, seems virtually impregnable by reason of geography as well as of defenses to serious assault. This does not mean that such an assault might not be attempted, with some hope of success, were Germany to conquer Britain, dominate Europe and launch a simultaneous coordinated assault against us in the Atlantic. But it does mean that Japan alone, or with Russia (a most unlikely combination) would have one chance in 100, or even less, of success in an attack launched against this hemisphere. It does mean that with or without German help any attack in the Pacific against the Continental United States or the Western Hemisphere would present such tremendous difficulties of distance and supply as to make its success highly problematical. It does not mean that raiders – sea and air – might not occasionally rake our coasts; no defenses can prevent that.