Essay On What Did The American Government Know About Pearl Harbor Before The Japanese Attack?

The history of the United States’ participation in the World War II starts with the surprise military strike caused by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941. There are many theories concerning Pearl Harbor – some say the US government knew the Japanese were coming, others agree on the fact that the United States naval base was caught off guard. Due to the evidence related to this question it is possible to form a definite point of view so this paper is going to dwell upon Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory.
Unlike their president, the American people did not want to be involved in the war in Europe so the rage against the Japanese aggressors was needed to change their minds and officially participate in the World War II. It is now obvious that Franklin Roosevelt had a strong desire for the war but he was unable to get involved in it without the support of his people. Being attacked on their own territory was a perfect plan to make the Americans support their president. Roosevelt had a reason for making the attack a complete surprise and losing a lot of people – Hitler would only declare the war on the Americans if he saw that they were weak.
The excerpts and quotations from the governmental documents and reports testify of the fact that Washington knew of Japan’s attack and let it happen in order to force the country to participate in the World War II. Almost a year before the attack, the US agents were able to break Japan’s codes including the exact locations of the US ships and find out the war plan involving an attack on Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt was informed about the Japanese practicing the airborne torpedo attacks on the destination reminding that of Pearl Harbor as well as building midget submarines.
In fact, the documents prove the theory that the United States even followed the plan to provoke the attack. On October 7, 1940, the Naval Officer Arthur H. McCollum wrote an eight-action memo offering the steps for the United States to do to make Japan react and attack them. The memo was given to and implemented by Roosevelt. By December 7, 1941, all the eight steps were implemented.
The most obvious fact hinting at the US government’s foreknowledge of Japan’s intentions is the breaking of the Japanese code known as “Purple”. The code was broken a year before Pearl Harbor, and the decoded texts were permanently sent to Washington. For the obvious reasons, the decoding machine was not sent to Pearl Harbor so that while the ship positioning data was actively gathered by the Japanese, the soldiers and their commanders in Hawaii had no idea of what was going to happen. Kimmel and Short (the commanders) were particularly kept away of the intelligence findings because otherwise the plan would not have worked; any preparedness of the Americans would have ruined all the facilitations Washington had provided for the Japanese.
There was another sign of war hidden by the American government – the famous “Winds Code”. The US intelligence was aware of the fact that once the weather broadcast in Tokyo says: “East wind, rain”, it would mean the war. Three days before Japan’s attack, the phrase was actually said, and the US intelligence picked it up. It did not do any change about preventing the attack because Washington was expecting it.
The advance knowledge of the attack is also proved by the fact that the information got by one of the double agents (Dusko Popov) about Nazis studying Pearl Harbor was not allowed to reach any further than the FBI and the president. The forecasts of the Japanese going to attack several destinations including Hawaii were numerous but each and every one passed through Roosevelt and he would not let the information get further.
The US intelligence worked a lot on translating the naval dispatches which President Roosevelt had access to. On November 26, 1941, Admiral Yamamoto informed the Japanese First Air Fleet about the attack on the United States Navy in Hawaii though he did not say the exact date. This information definitely reached Roosevelt. Apart from the naval dispatches, there was a leak of information of existence of the Japanese strategic map which proved the intentions of Japan to carry out on Pearl Harbor. Due to his reports, Congressman Martin Dies was not allowed to inform the news services about the map “in the name of the national defense”.
The reports demonstrate that the US government was only concerned about how to be attacked with the less danger to the army. The first shot needed to be made by the Japanese as the aggressors in spite of the huge risks involved. A week before the attack, the US government already knew the exact date of the military operation. On December 4, 1941, the White House got the 26-page memo “Japanese intelligence and propaganda in the United States” which was a warning of the attack. There was enough time to react and it is now obvious that the US government had another plan.
In the result of the attack, the United States Navy lost 2400 lives. Roosevelt’s perfect preparation and calculation let him satisfy his ambitions and participate in the World War II. Today, people call December 7 “the day of deceit”, and it was the Federal Government with Roosevelt in charge that practiced this deceit. Only the mainstream historians keep on stating that the attack was a surprise but the evidence proves the sad reality. What we see is that time gives the answers and tells the truth.

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