"Ralph Mowery" wrote in message
k.net...
In article ,
says...


Roosevelt did not want to declare war on the Axis without direct
provocation, and the "surprise" attack by Japan provided that. The sneak
attack changed America's perception of the war overnight and recruitment
offices were flooded the next day and continued on.

But I also want to be clear in that I believe that no one in the U.S.
military or Roosevelt himself could have possibly foreseen the
devastation that that attack on Pearl delivered. The only thing
"surprise" about the Dec 7th attack was the brilliance planning and
execution of it.

John
Wolcott, CT

While we lost a lot of good men, the ships that were sank and dammaged
and the aircraft were a bunch of left over old junk. The main ships
(aircraft carriers) were not there at the time. I believe that was a
setup just to get Japan to attack ,but not suffer too much of a loss to
the US.

The historical evidence tells me there was a fair bit of ****wittery in the
top brass.

American codebreakers were more or less keeping up with the Jap codes - so
they should've known the **** was about to hit the fan.

All the airfield fighters were lined up in a neat row for fear of sabotage
near the tree line.

They ignored warnings from British Intelligence about suspicious Jap troop
movements.

The footsloggers working the radar set did their job and reported the
incoming - they were told; "don't worry about it".

Some historians claim that all the ammo was locked away - the officer with
the key couldn't be found and they had to smash the door in - getting
strafed and frantically running around handing out ammo clips so a few
people could shoot back.

How they weren't prepared for an air raid is one of the great
mystries..................................