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Old 03-27-2006, 11:40 AM   #14
Mike P
Jiggin' Leper Lawyer
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Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: 61° 30′ 0″ N, 23° 46′ 0″ E
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Ah, yes, the old "east wind, rain" smoking gun that FDR knew about Pearl Harbor.

It doesn't fly because it rests on faulty assumptions. One, that FDR knew more about how the war would play out than his top admirals, and knew that aircraft carriers would be the strategic key to victory, and not battleships. That's why he ordered the carriers to sea but kept the battlewagons in port as sacrificial lambs, according to the conspiracy theorists. Except that King, and even Yamamoto who ordered the attack, still believed in the supremacy of the battleship.

Two, that he knew that Pearl was THE objective of the attack, and that the japanese had the ability to pull it off. They knew the Japanese were up to something, but went with the natural assumption that it would come in the Philippines.

Most importantly, what FDR really wanted was an excuse to get into it with Germany in Europe. Even in the days following Pearl, there was very little support for getting into it with the Nazis in the US. Then, Hitler did the unthinkable by actually honoring a treaty, and declaring war on us after we declared war on Japan. You'd have to believe that FDR knew ahead of time that Hitler was going to honor the only treaty he ever did--against the advice of most of his top commanders, by the way.

Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools, because they have to say something.
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