It is well-documented fact that FDR was not pleased that Americans were actively resisting entering the war in Europe. It is also a well-documented fact that he provoked the Japanese. By cutting off their supply of oil, iron ore, and steel as well as moving the Pacific Fleet from the West Coast fleet to Hawaii, FDR was taunting the Japanese to strike first.
FDR knew that the Japanese were planning to attack Pearl Harbor. FDR ran one of the most secretive presidencies in our history. FDR was responsible for building up the agencies that would eventually become the CIA and the NSA.
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No, he didn't. He knew the Japanese were planning a takeover of SE Asia, and thought this was generally a bad thing. So he put sanctions in to discourage them. Instead of being discouraged, however, the loony Japanese military decided to strike first. And then FDR used his awesome mental powers to force Hitler to declare war on the USA.
I don't get this whole "FDR knew the Japanese would strike Pearl Harbor" conspiracy theory. We could have been ready for a strike and destroyed their aircraft, and even positioned our carriers nearby to attack their carrier group with our aircraft. What I'm saying is that we could have avoided a major disastrous attack and even struck a major blow to the Japanese Navy all in one, and still had a reason to go to war. Which would have been much better than allowing our ships to be damaged or destroyed, fuel depot destroyed, aircraft on the ground destroyed, and had thousands of people killed.
@ Doubting Thomas
The idea is that by allowing the massive loss of life, the US public would scream for revenge and want to utterly wipe out the entirety of the group that attacked them... Japan, Germany and Italy, as they were all in a Mutual Defence Pact.
It's exactly the same way that you've got parts of the US public still screaming for the extermination of all Arabs for the actions of a few extremists...
Of course, the fact that all we knew was that something important to the Japanese was going to happen that weekend, and the only advanced warning we got was a couple of hours before the Official Declaration of War was delivered by the Japanese Ambassador... as we had cracked their diplomatic code and decoded it quicker than them... but that was still AFTER the attack had started.
*WWII History buff, signing off*
Him again? He's really torn up over us having gone to war with Glorious Nippon, isn't he? You'd think he'd be grateful, since if not for the influence of American culture that happened as a direct result of us defeating and occupying Japan, all that precious anime that I'm sure he masturbates to every night wouldn't exist.
@#1582444: Yeah, the entire hypothesis rests on the idea the FDR psychically knew how the whole war would turn out, never mind the fact that the United States did not even have a large army at the time, and was way behind in the tank and aircraft races. Not to mention arms manufacturing, transportation manufacturing, the fact that the US had to cross oceans to get to rips with who they apparently wanted to fight really badly...
So FDR knew that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor? Had he had that foreknowledge, and he had sent Americans into combat to prevent the attack, wouldn't that have started hostilities between the US and Japan? So, tell me, if the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor, how was war avoidable?
"as well as moving the Pacific Fleet from the West Coast fleet to Hawaii"
Yes, because Hawaii was a foreign country at that time. Still is.
"FDR ran one of the most secretive presidencies in our history."
Two points: yes, he probably did, mainly because he was in the middle of World War II and secrets like the A-Bomb, D-day, Enigma and on and on needed to be kept. Loss lips sink ships.
Second: have you ever heard of Richard Nixon? Or Ronald Reagan? I wager both kept a lot more (and dirtier) secrets then FDR.
Moron.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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