We didn’t start the war —I’m happy we won.
But did FDR *want* to war on Japan with no moral responsibility for STARTING it? Why, yes —that’s absolutely true.
And Churchill very badly wanted FDR in the war, and the two had been working for quite some time on how to manage it, when presto, finally the Japanese threw the solution right into their laps.
Did Japan deserve to get whipped? Oh sure..!
They didn’t attack just the USA —they attacked Hong Kong, Singapore, Malasia, Vietnam, Australia, the British, and others, and ALL AT ONCE.
In fact, in Singapore when they took over the hospitals, they went from bed to bed, simply bayonetting doctors and patients. They even shot nurses and doctors performing surgery.
It also turned out that the IJA had made absolutely NO PLANS AT ALL for provisioning for POWs and conquered peoples —nothing at all.
Only to a liberal does not giving into a tyrant (a liberal) constitute provocation. Typical liberal tactics.
One must consider just how totally commited FDR was to saving the the Soviet Union and the british empire and just how equally opposed Americans were to be f#@k%d by the russians and brits again after just twenty years.
How about Roosevelt and Truman's working with USSR to leave them controlling Eastern Europe? That is more relevent.
Japan and Germany had to be stopped so second guessing that war start is non-productive.
My uncle was on the aircraft carrier, USS Lexington in 1941. It was stationed at Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. All at once they were ordered to leave on Dec. 5 together with 2 other carriers. My uncle was planning on going out to diner when he got word to report back to the ship. This was totally unexpected and considering what happened on Dec. 7 he has always wondered if somebody did know something was up.
*THAT* was far easier said, than done, Mr. Knox...
the infowarrior
my grandmother, Ohio Taft supporter, believed we did by cutting off their oil supply
Historians daintily sidestep the fundamental question of exactly WHEN the Japanese code was broken. If the War Dept. knew the exact details of the attack, then FDR did indeed sacrifice the lives of our men in Hawaii to get into the war. He covered his tracks well and still has people and institutions running interference for him..
Reading any good history of Imperial Japan after WW I would present clearly that Japan had determined to follow a military expansionist policy for their future development. The only controversy was who they were going to pick a fight with. The ‘Strike North” faction thought it should be the Soviet Union and the “Strike South” faction thought it should be U.S., Netherlands, and Great Britain. The outside world was still uncertain enough about how the issue had been resolved that the Soviet Union required confirmation from its spy in Japan Richard Sorge that they were not planning to attack before Stalin released his Eastern divisions to oppose Hitler’s invasion. In this country ever more overt signs of their belligerency called forth ever more stringent diplomatic responses. Pat Buchanan joins the “Strike South” faction in interpreting these as provocations.
To those of us who read our history that answer to the headline’s question is a resounding YES!
FDR had much to answer to as his wheelchair was pushed up the ramp to hell! Probably Harry Hopkins was doing the pushing.