If no one knew, it does seem awfully strange that our entire fleet was in port at Pearl Harbor. They were actually called back in.
Put me in the believer column until someone offers definitive proof that it was not used as the only way to get the US people to agree to another war, thereby ending the painful depression.
Why? America would be just as outraged it the report noted how “lucky” we were that our fleet was out on exercise to the EAST of Hawaii at the time, and then we wouldn’t have had so many dead military.
SO even if I could believe that the highest levels of government would deliberately sacrifice soldiers to get us into war, I don’t believe they would do so when it wasn’t necessary.
“Put me in the believer column until someone offers definitive proof that it was not used as the only way to get the US people to agree to another war”
What a mindset. Our leaders, corrupt and rapacious as they are, are presumed to be capable of conspiring to effectively attack their own country in order to make a policy decision more possible until proven innocent? That’s not exactly the way our criminal justice system or Science work, but hey, if you like it.
“Put me in the believer column until someone offers definitive proof that it was not used as the only way to get the US people “
Don’t think I woulda posted that, no, don’t think I would’ve.
I think you may be referring to the infamous 14 part message. There is a great deal of confusion between Japanese Naval ciphers and diplomatic ciphers. The Navy had broken both, as it turns out. The Navy was much more concerned about Japan than the Army, for obvious reasons.
There was no message which said, "Attack Pearl Harbor on December 7 at 0630 HR" or anything to that effect. The 14 part message was the final transmission from Tokyo to its Washington embassy prior to the war. It contained an ultimatum that the Japanese embassador was instructed to deliver to Secretary of State Hull at 2:00 PM Washington time, which would be 6:00 AM Hawaiian time, warning of a breach in relations if not accepted. It also contained instructions for the Japanese delegation to destroy their code machines, a clear indication they intended to break relations with the U.S.
The Japanese believed that presenting the ultimatum prior to the attack would constitute a defense against a charge of a surprise attack, that is an attack preceding a declaration of War.
As luck would have it, the Japanese code machines suffered mechanical breakdowns and the message was delivered late, after Secretary Hull was already aware of the already ongoing Pearl Harbor attack. Secretary Hull also had a copy of the Japanese ultimatum and the entire 14 part message because the American analog of the Japanese code machines, constructed by cryptanalysis, used brass contacts where the Japanese used copper and were therefore more durable and reliable. How times change.
Hull threw out the humiliated Japanese delegation in a huff, being already aware of the contents of the ultimatum and the rest of the 14 part message.
The Navy intelligence officers who decoded the messages and their superiors took the message as tantamount to a declaration of War. They wanted to send a warning to Hawaii and the Pacific in general. The Navy's link to Pearl was via a 1 kW HF radio transmitter and there was a lot of static in the ionosphere that evening. The Army, just down the hall, had a 10 kW transmitter, which could punch through, but rather than impose on the Army for a favor they sent the encrypted message via Western Union. A Japanese-American Western Union bicycle courier arrived at Admiral Kimmel's home on Sunday morning with the warning from Washington some time after the Arizona had rolled over at her berth.
There is a great deal to blame Roosevelt for, but it is highly unlikely he had any specific foreknowledge of the attack on Pearl Harbor. General laxity of the Army and the Navy in Hawaii prior to Pearl Harbor probably contributed more to Japanese success than any other single factor.