[Redleg Duke]

"Does the words Pearl Harbor mean anything to you????"

Yeah, I'll bet to him it is something that was the USA's fault.

[jamaksin]

Um, ... let's see ... freeze Japanese assets in the US, enlist the Dutch and British in a worldwide oil embargo against Japan, provide the Chinese with war materiel, ...

[Oh, in exchange for their support, FDR commits the US to the armed support of their colonies (e.g., Singapore, Java, ...) if the Japanese cross south of the Isthmus of Kra ... Oh, yes, they do that on Dec. 5, 1941 ... Odd, Congress knew nothing of that commitment until the Pearl Harbor Investigations. Seems this fact is little known nor taught in America public schools.]

Those are odd actions of a declared neutral nation (viz., the United States) ...

Japan decided to fight on her own terms rather than submit to pressure. Go south to get especially needed oil, and guard the left flank ... i.e., destroy the Pacific Fleet ...

Whether Pearl Harbor was or was not a "sneak" attack remains actively debated ... So it goes.