SAN DIEGO -- When it comes to the histories and cultures of the countries of the Pacific, the U.S. president either received a lousy education at Andover and Yale or else failed to study.
George W. Bush opened his recent tour of Japan, South Korea and China with a gaffe that should give his daddy heartburn: "My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. . . . For a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific."
I suspect that Bush's father, who flew dive bombers off the USS San Jacinto and who on Sept. 2, 1944, was shot down by the Japanese, remembers World War II. He might even recall that it occurred somewhat less than a 150 years ago.