Researchers about the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor know that President Franklin Roosevelt had provoked a Japanese attack to justify America’s entry into World War II. Most Americans were against joining the war, but the attack on Pearl Harbor provided the excuse needed to declare war. The best book on this topic is “Day of Deceit” by former World War II Navy officer Robert Stinnett. The topics he covers are controversial because most people refuse to accept that Roosevelt and top military leaders in Washington DC failed to inform the commanders in Hawaii that a Japanese fleet was coming to attack.
5 thoughts on “The Attack on Pearl Harbor Was No Surprise (video)”
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Most of the media tell lies about what really happened at Pearl Harbor. FDR provoked the attack and the Japanese did not bomb it without provocation. The article I read in USA Today tells a different story.
Uh, wouldn’t a successfully repelled attack still have provided a justification for going to war with Japan, and allowed the USA to start from a stronger footing?
It seems to me that the very fact of an attack would have allowed FDR to go to war with Japan, if that indeed were what he sought. It was not necessary to allow the attack to succeed. I see that as an argument against the “not a surprise” foil-hattery.
An early warning might have sent the attackers back due to loss of the “key element of surprise” as the video notes. But it would also provide little incentive for a declaration of war, especially on a second front. So one might expect consideration of a late warning that would reduce losses but provide a sufficient casus belli. Those who knew that a fleet was enroute likely erred in predicting the extent or time of attacks, or did not believe that more than a threat was likely. But to leave the US fleet with no warning at all was a misjudgment unlikely to be forgiven, so likely to be kept secret. A decision most likely among lower officers.