Japan had been aggressively moving to dominate Asia since the late 1800s, having started the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895 that lead to Japan’s complete control of Korea by 1910. The war with Russia in 1905 was designed to remove the next threat to their designs. That left only the US to challenge their power, and they knew war was coming long before 1941.
In the meantime the Japanese kept busy by invading Manchuria after staging a false flag attack. Maybe you’ve heard of the Rape of Nanking? The sinking of the Panay?
The last straw was the invasion of French Indochina. Only after ALL THAT did FDR move to apply pressure via embargoes.
Cutting off their oil was the excuse, not the reason.
I agree completely. Sorry for the miscommunication. You know some of my good friends started out as a miscommunication. Good to know you.