>>8091446 (PB)
That quote is ascribed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Having spent a fair amount of time in the US (U.S. Naval War College and Harvard) he might have agreed with the sentiment -- he certainly was aware that the US had the industrial ability and human will to mount a determined defense -- but there is no record of him having uttered those words. We can't ask him because P-38 fighter planes caught up with him on 18 April, 1943.
Although he fought against us, I still have considerable respect for him as a man and as an Admiral. Of course, he faced politicians just as DJT does in both Congress and the military when trying to establish the Space Force (https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/urgent-need-united-states-space-force/)
so he couldn't fight the sort of war that COULD be won against opponents he COULD defeat.
The AF is focused on using satellites to defend against earthly opponents but ignoring needs facing outward. The Space Force needs its own budget, it's own chain of command, it's own mandate.