A factually true statement. The sanctions against Japan were meant to curtail its ability to fight a modern war against China, and they were extremely effective.
Iron ore, steel, and oil were the key embargoed items, and oil was the real big one. The embargo left Japan with two choices; i.e. take the oil or submit. Japan chose the former.
The lesson being that the enemy always has a choice when you present them with an ultimatum, and any effective embargo is an ultimatum.
FDR was quite foolish to present such an ultimatum to the Japanese and then not be ready for them to fight. What did the Japanese absolutely need, if they weren't to submit? Oil, which could only be gotten in Indonesia.
Iron ore, steel, and oil were the key embargoed items, and oil was the real big one. The embargo left Japan with two choices; i.e. take the oil or submit. Japan chose the former.The lesson being that the enemy always has a choice when you present them with an ultimatum, and any effective embargo is an ultimatum.
FDR was quite foolish to present such an ultimatum to the Japanese and then not be ready for them to fight. What did the Japanese absolutely need, if they weren't to submit? Oil, which could only be gotten in Indonesia.
Either FDR had an agenda, or he was a fool, or he was playing for time. Sort of like the Obamanation. Heheh. This brings to mind an interesting artifact of management by people who are not strategic thinkers and have only unexamined ideology to guide them - they lurch from crisis to crisis because their emphasis is management of the now, vs preparation. As soon as any particular crisis is averted they go back to whatever their ideology informs. They appear to be fools with an agenda playing for time, but they don't think of themselves that way.