Time for government to reveal truth about Pearl Harbor

The Baltimore Sun ^ | December 7, 2001 | Lee Gaillard

[jackbill]

PHILADELPHIA -- Early that Tuesday morning, terrorist suicide crews piloting hijacked jetliners killed an estimated 4,000 people from 86 countries.

Quickly labeled the Pearl Harbor of 2001, Sept. 11 has been acknowledged as a massive intelligence-gathering failure at the highest levels.

On that infamous Sunday morning 60 years ago today, against the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, Japanese Adm. Chuichi Nagumo's Operation Z carrier task force launched its attack that destroyed nearly 200 American aircraft, sank five battleships, severely damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and three auxiliaries, and killed 2,476 U.S. servicemen and civilians.

[jackbill]

Are there really 60 year old "military secrets" that our government must protect? Or is the government just trying to protect someone's reputation? Is there any other reason why the government won't release the information?

I highly recommend Mr. Stinnett's book - Day of Deceit.

[JohnGalt]

The Greatest Generation does not tolerate dissent.

[The Duke]

I suspect that the answer to all of the above questions is that the element of surprise is a potent weapon. With regard to the author's questioning of radar signals detectected, as I understand it this was the first activation of the first production radar used by the US military, and the assumption on turning it on and seeing all the echos was that "the darn thing was broke".

There's nothing I'd like better than to rhetorically snipe at FDR, but I just don't seem much ammunition in the above article.

[thusevertotyrants]

and just who is John Galt? :P We knew nothing about the coming attack on Pearl Harbor. Those slanty eyed yellow devils done sneak attacked us. And Lee Harvey Oswald assasinated JFK, acting alone. And Iraq used to be good when they were against the Ayatollah, but then they became bad when they invaded Kuwait. And Bin Laden was a freedom fighter when he was fighting those godless Russian Commies. But now he is evil because he despises freedom and bombed the Trade Center. I know all this because my government says so, and, since my government is American and since America is truth and justice and freedom and apple pie and hot dogs and all those other good things that means the American government has never lied ....... right?

[thusevertotyrants]

I forgot to add the snide comment that you obviously have a tin foil hat if you believe any of that lunacy about a cover-up at Pearl Harbor. But then again, FDR was president, and you never can trust them shifty beady eyed democRATS can ya? .........

[wwjdn]

What a bunch of crap! Unless the book was writen before December 7, 1941, then it is garbage. Hind site is always 20-20!

I knew about September 11th before hand and I told President Bush but he failed to listen to me (sarcasm off)

[sanchmo]

But in his meticulously researched Day of Deceit, Robert B. Stinnett states, "Seven Japanese naval broadcasts intercepted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 6 confirmed that Japan intended to start the war and that it would begin at Pearl Harbor."

Were there seven and only seven intercepts? If there were more than seven, what did the other ones say?. Were there, say, 7000 intercepts with 1000 different messages? Unless he can show that every intercept said the same thing, or even the vast majority of them, this is another yawner.

[Sunshine Sister]

The reason for the cover up is that FDR's butt still needs to be covered. How can he be a hero to the democrats if he's a traitor? Okay that may be a bit harsh. How's this? How can he still be a hero if he was a blind, deaf idiot?

[WhiskeyPapa]

La de Da.

Watch Tora Tora Tora!

Most of the questions in this article will be answered. To think that President Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the PH attack is just ludicrous.

Walt

[jackbill]

Most of the questions in this article will be answered. To think that President Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the PH attack is just ludicrous.

Perhaps if you read Stinnett's book, you just might develop some doubts. If you're not interested, fine. If you want to keep an uniformed opinion, fine.

[The Great RJ]

While it is easy for us to see the many threads of information that pointed to the attack 60 years after the fact, at the time likely no one could have pulled all this information together and deduced that an attack on Pearl Harbor was imminent.

Clearly there were some in the government who thought an attack by the Japanese was likely at the end of 1941, but most thought it would come in the Philipines or Malaya and few if any seriously considered an air attack on Pearl Harbor.

[David]

"Most of the questions in this article will be answered. To think that President Roosevelt had prior knowledge of the PH attack is just ludicrous."

The issue of time of decypher of the military messages is decisive--if the author is correct and we had read the military messages before December 6, Roosevelt knew the attack was coming and actively sought to be sure it would happen. That view is supported by the order to Kimmel not to send a destroyer investigation force to the area from which the attack was initiated.

The issue would be resolved by complete access to the classified material. If the classified material did not demonstrate that FDR knew, why would it not be released? I assume, until they give a complete open declassification, that they are hiding the truth for the purpose of concealing FDR's prior knowledge of the attack.

[Emmanual_Goldstein16]

Hollywood always has the answers!!! Want to know all about Viet Nam, See THe GReen Berets. Want to know about anything, just watch a movie. I saw a Russian made movie about Ivan the Terrible which made him look like Lenin, and a Saint no less. Get a life.

[JohnGalt]

The reason for the cover-up is that there were hundreds of Stalinist in FDR's administration who wanted war with Japan (and Germany, but less so) to ensure the Japanese would not attack the unportected Eastern front of Russia.

[skeeter]

We hadn't broken any military codes before the war, we had broken the Japanese' diplomatic code.

[BlueLancer]

"I highly recommend Mr. Stinnett's book - Day of Deceit."

I have read Stinnett's book ... purchased it in hard-cover shortly after it was published to add to my personal library, hoping that it might shed some light on subjects that it purported to be covering.

Needless to say, I found it to be mainly a re-hash of gossip, innuendo, and suppositions, bootstrapped together to make it appear that there was some scholarship attached to it. Quotes taken out of context, data and information unfavorable to the thesis was simply omitted or distorted to the point where it no longer had any bearing on what it originally stated, and leaps of logic wide enough to make Evel Knievel dismount from his motorcycle.

Proof? Hardly. Circumstantial evidence? Maybe...possibly. Beyond a reasonable doubt? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

[It'salmosttolate]

PEARL HARBOR: MOTHER OF ALL CONSPIRACIES (lest you think the swindle the government is pulling on the people is something new)

FDR lied.

The Pearl Harbor Deception

Kimmel & Short denied key info on approaching Japanese fleet.

FDR intended to provoke war!

[WhiskeyPapa]

Hollywood always has the answers!!! Want to know all about Viet Nam, See The Green Berets. Want to know about anything, just watch a movie. I saw a Russian made movie about Ivan the Terrible which made him look like Lenin, and a Saint no less. Get a life.

"Tora Tora Tora!" goes into great detail on the intellignce picture that was developed. It also deals with the USS Ward's attack; heck, parts of it are pretty dull it goes into so much detail.

The actual attack scenes are awesome; very well done. The whole thing is SO much better than this crappy movie that came out last year.

Walt

[BlueLancer]

"Russian made movie about Ivan the Terrible which made him look like Lenin"

No, I think it made Stalin look like Ivan ... that's when he was on his "Look at me, I'm not a communist, I'm a nationalist" kick.