From: erics@netcom.com (Eric Smith)
Newsgroups: alt.conspiracy,alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Re: FDR and Pearl Harbor
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:27:55 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)

trif@bike.rad.washington.edu (To Run In Fear) writes:

>spl@pitstop.ucsd.edu (Steve Lamont) writes:

>   In article <adams.719073448@spssig> adams@spss.com (Steve Adams) writes:

>   >I guess FDR asked the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor?  And of course, Truman
>   >asked the North Koreans to invade South Korea...

>   Actually, there is some controversy amongst historians regarding FDR
>   and Pearl Harbor.  There can be no mistake that FDR was looking for an
>   opportunity to get into WWII.  As early as 1939, FDR was attempting to
>   gear up for war, while professing "neutrality."  He submitted a $1.3
>   Billion defense budget (a *huge* sum of money in those days) and
>   declared a "limited emergency."  In 1940, the Selective Service act
>   was signed.  FDR wanted into the war (for good reason, I might add --
>   the tide of Nazism was flooding over Europe and there was a significant
>   chance that Great Britian would be overrun).

>   With respect to Pearl Harbor, there is some amount of documentary
>   evidence to indicate that at least some of those charged with the
>   defense of this country were aware of the presence of the Japanese
>   Navy in the proximity of Pearl Harbor and had an inkling, at least, of
>   what the Japanese were up to.  While it may be stretching things a bit
>   to say, as some have, that the FDR administration knew in advance that
>   there was to be an attack on Pearl Harbor, I don't think that, in a
>   perverse way, FDR was at all disappointed or shocked at the attack.

>This has been discussed recently on alt.folklore.urban-legend, and I believe
>that the true story is that some Japanese communication was intercepted that
>indicated that an attack somewhere in the Pacific was going to happen "real
>soon now".  Warning was radioed to all allied posts in the Pacific, but
>for some reason they had to telegraph to Hawaii, and the telegraph messenger
>delivered the message too late.

Such warnings to all bases in the Pacific, including Pearl Harbor, were
sent several times in the months preceeding Pearl Harbor. U.S. intelligence
was fairly swamped with reports of Japanese activities, real and imagined,
in the days before the attack and it's not surprising that any one of these
reports may have been overlooked.

This subject has been discussed over and over (and over) on soc.history,
and the bottom line is that there is no evidence that FDR had any prior
knowledge of the Pearl Harbor attack. While many people expected a Japanese
attack somewhere, the focus of attention (for U.S. possessions) was the
Phillipines. Nevertheless, Admiral Kimmel had been ordered to place Pearl
Harbor on maximum alert conditions.

Now can we keep this topic off of alt.fan.dan-quayle?

-----
Eric Smith	    | "If a frog had wings, he wouldn't hit his tail
erics@sco.com	    |     on the ground.  'If.'  Too hypothetical."
erics@infoserv.com  | - George Bush, on extending unemployment benefits
CI$: 70262,3610	    |
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