Pearl+Harbor+The+Ongoing+Controversy

 __Pearl Harbor, The Ongoing Controversy__

On [|September 11, 2001], the United States was attacked. This assault sent shock waves through the nation. Americans for the first time since [|Pearl Harbor], sixty years ago felt unsafe in their own country. Fear and dread gripped the nation as American’s mourned their dead. “At 8:46 on the morning of September 11, 2001, the United States became a nation transformed for the second time. Approximately 3,000 people died that morning in September. This immeasurable pain was inflicted by 19 young Arabs acting at the behest of Islamist extremists headquartered in distant Afghanistan”. (The 9/11 Commission Report) The suddenness of the attack was comparable in scope, pain, anguish and suddenness with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. At 7:46 on the morning of [|December 7, 1941], the United States became a nation transformed for the first time. Approximately 2,500 people died that morning in December. This immeasurable pain was inflicted by young Japanese pilots acting at the behest of Japanese extremists.  Since the attack on [|September 11, 2001], there is a renewed interest in the concept of a “[|surprise attack]”. Congress in the form of the 9/11 Commission investigated whether the [|CIA] had prior knowledge of the attack. Parallels can be drawn between the September 11, 2001 attacks with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Popular opinion has always been that the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise and unprovoked by the US. [|Franklin Delano Roosevelt] in this Message on War Against Japan stated that Japan perpetuated “…the unprovoked and dastardly attack … on Sunday, December seventh, 1941…” (Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Message). However controversy has existed since the attack as to whether FDR actually knew about the coming attack or worked behind the scenes to provoke the Japanese into attacking the US. This behind the scenes manipulation ultimately brought the US into the war as Roosevelt had wanted. Various points and arguments have been made to support and dispute this theory of whether or not FDR knew of the coming attack. Roosevelt’s actions in Europe during the months preceding the attack also bolster this argument. As PBS reports, “It was a war of words and a war of action, a war of secret meetings and public duplicity and the prosecutor of this war was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the United States” (pbs.org) Franklin Delano Roosevelt had knowledge of the “surprise” attack that Japan was planning. He maneuvered events to force Japan to attack the US thereby bringing the US into [|World War II].  Franklin Delano Roosevelt through secret meetings and circumventing American law and neutrality worked to prepare America for war and began a massive arms build up. (pbs.org) Roosevelt spoke with one voice to the American people but acted with a different agenda. Publicly Roosevelt appeared to agree with the isolationist approach to avoiding war with Japan however privately he eagerly worked to escalate the political situation so that war was inevitable. Although the [|Neutrality Act of 1935] prohibited the Untied States from exporting or selling arms and ammunition, FDR, in 1939 asked Congress to repeal the act. Congress refused, FDR continued to argue for its’ repeal and on November 4th. Congress relented and approved the Pittman bill which allowed the sale of weapons to selected nations. Roosevelt recommended that peace could be achieved only through a strong national defense. He dramatically increased the defense budget. In addition he combined with industrialists to build the American [|arsenal]. (pbs.org)  At Churchill’s request for arms, Roosevelt responded by using his presidential powers to further circumvent the Neutrality Act by giving the [|Britain] 50 American destroyers. Roosevelt defended his actions by arguing that the destroyers given to Great Britain were old and of little value to the US. Britain was however grateful for any help from the US. (pbs.org) In addition, three months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt introduced the [|Selective Service Act] which Congress passed by a single vote. [|The Selective Service Act]allowed a peacetime draft. With this act all men at the age of eighteen were required to register with the federal government and were eligible for a draft into war.  As FDR worked to build up American arms behind the scenes, he also increased the economic and diplomatic pressure on Japan. In the book __Last of the Japanese Moderates__ author George Morgenstern and former US Marine Corp Captain argues that “diplomacy failed because diplomacy was not employed to avert war, but to make certain it’s coming”. The United States State Department failed in finding a diplomatic solution to the situation with Japan because at the demand of Roosevelt, they did not offer any compromise solution which would appeal to the Japanese. In addition the US Ambassador to Japan, Joseph Grew stated that Premier Knonye’s peace proposals regarding the Japanese settlements in [|China] were rejected by Roosevelt. Knonye was replaced by General Tojo, a more aggressive and anti-American [|Premier] who pledged to do whatever was necessary to break the economic stranglehold the US had on Japan. (Lutton) During the 1930-1940, Japan began to set up settlements in China. This led the United States to embargo war supplies and put greater restrictions on the export of necessary items to Japan. Japan had few natural resources. It relied heavily on exports from the United States and other countries for such necessary products such as petroleum and other oil products. (World Book Encyclopedia) In addition to the economic embargo, the [|United States Navy] also blocked Japan from further expanding in the [|Pacific Ocean](World Book Encyclopedia). The aim of the [|Japanese Navy] was to expand into the [|Indian] and Pacific Ocean. Roosevelt feared that the Japanese government was copying [|Hitler’s] plan of expansion. (Der Vat, Dan Van) The American policy of economic and naval embargo, rather than forcing Japan to end the settlements made them more desperate. (Lutton) Due to this stranglehold, Japan lost 75% of its foreign trade and 90% of its oil supply. (Lutton) This caused untold economic hardship for the Japanese people. The result of which would have caused suppressed anger towards the United States and the ultimate rise of an aggressive anti-American General. Following the Japanese proposal to end the economic sanctions, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered an order to the Secretary of State Hull. Hull upon instructions by FDR told the Japanese “to surrender or go to war”. (Lutton) This order in effect told the Japanese that they needed to either obey the US order or go to war. This was knowingly considered an insult to Japan. Years later it was found that the Japanese considered the attack on Pearl Harbor was justified as a result of the years of humiliation suffered from the US and European empires. (Wels). Even to this day, the Japanese find it more honorable to go to war than to submit to western governments. “The Japanese however would think it more honorable to fight than abandon their announced policy of dominating Asia.” (Posner)  As FDR refused to negotiate with the Japanese government regarding the settlements in China, he also worked to weaken the Pacific fleet in Hawaiian Islands despite loud protests by the military leaders. In the 15 page report, __The Final Secret of Pearl Harbor__, the author, John T. Flynn wrote that FDR “was to blame for diplomatic mismanagement for keeping the Pacific fleet stationed at the insecure Pearl Harbor and for stripping Pearl Harbor of needed defensive equipment (Lutton). “On November 25, 1941, President Roosevelt met with Secretary of State Hull, Navy Secretary Frank Knox, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, General Marshall and Admiral Stark. Relations with the Japanese were the main topic discussed.” (Lutton) FDR was quoted at this meeting “In spite of the risk involved, however in letting the Japanese fire the first shot, we realize that in order to have the full support of the American people it was desirable to make sure that the Japanese were the ones to do this so that there should remain no doubt in anyone’s mind as to who were the aggressors.” (Lutton) This meeting focused on how the US could maneuver the Japanese into firing the first shot without endangering the safety of the United States.  The most compelling evidence that the United States had some prior knowledge of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 concerns the “Wind” messages. On November 9th after the negotiations regarding the Chinese settlements failed, the Japanese government warned that a complete breakdown with Washington was near. They also sent to their Washington embassy the now famous “Wind” message. “In case of emergency (danger of cutting off our diplomatic relations), and the cutting off of international communications, the following warning will be added in the middle of the daily Japanese language short wave news broadcast:  1. In case of Japan-US relations endangered: east wind, rain.  2. Japan-USSR relations: north wind, cloudy  3. Japan-British relations: west wind, clear  The United States had cracked the Japanese coded messages and was aware of the code and its use of “Wind” messages. Although [|Washington] and FDR were fully aware of these messages and instructions, this critical and valuable information was not passed on to the military commanders in the Hawaiian Islands. Admiral Theobald of the US Navy after studying the decryptions stated that there was almost a complete denial of information during the 3 months preceding the Pearl Harbor attack. When asked the question as to why this occurred, he emphatically stated “Why was such irrefutable evidence of the coming attack so withheld? Why did Washington contribute so completely to the surprise feature of that attack? There can only be one answer because President Roosevelt wanted it that way//.”// (Lutton) John T. Flynn stated that the breaking of the code was “gift from the gods”. The British had first broken the Japanese code and supplied Washington with copies of the messages between [|Tokyo] and foreign representatives. This information was passed on to Washington on November 25, 1941 yet ignored and never forwarded to military leaders at Pearl Harbor. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> These events all conspired as Roosevelt had ultimately planned to trigger the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. This “surprise and unprovoked” attack by the Japanese achieved FDR’s goal of forcing the Untied States to enter the war. His behind the scenes maneuvering forced the Japanese to adopt the position that attacking Pearl Harbor was a step towards gaining self-determination and self-preservation. (Japan: the Rise of the Militarists) The chronology of these events in conjunction with the Japanese culture makes a “strong case for remembering December 7, 1941 as President’s Roosevelt’s “[|Day of Infamy]” (Journal of Historical Review, vol11, no 4, pp 431-467) History shows that there was a long and deep history of mutual distrust and hostility between the Japanese government and the United States (Japan: the Rise of the Militarists). The [|9/11 Commission Report] draws similar parallels. These same circumstances can be found in the long and deep history of mutual distrust and hostility between the [|Middle East]and the Western democracies. [|Arab] extremists find it more honorable to go to war than to submit to western governments in particular the United States.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Der Vat, Dan Van. __Pearl Harbor__ __(The Day of Infamy)__. Canada: Basic Books, 2001. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source was found in a book about Pearl Harbor. It was a great resource to my paper for that it provided me with the deeper knowledge in Pearl Harbor that I needed to know. It speaks about the foreign relations all the way to the people involved in this attack. It is not based on one opinion nor is it focused on one part of Pearl Harbor. It wanted to introduce you to this topic and make you familiar with the details of it. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> "Foreign Affairs." Pbs.org. 1997. 9 Apr. 2008. http://www.pbs.org/amex/presidents/32_f_roosevelt

This source I found off of Pbs.com. It was helpful during my first few paragraphs. This source was not based upon Pearl Harbor but the politics involved in Pearl Harbor and afterwards. It also focuses on Roosevelt and how he acted upon these factors. It is a good source to find out a little more about the political involvement in Pearl Harbor, and its aftermath.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> “Franklin D. Roosevelt's Message on War Against Japan." //American Decades CD-ROM//. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. [|http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/] <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source is a primary source, found off the Greenwich High School databases. This article is principally about Roosevelt’s remarks about the war on Japan. He speaks about the declaration for war. Roosevelt in this article provides information about the Japanese attack and asks of Congress to pronounce a state of war between the United States of America and Japan.

"Japan- The Rise of the Militarists." __Country-data.com__. Jan. 1994. 15 Apr.2008. [|http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-7086.html</span]> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source was an article I found off of Google. It does not speak about Pearl Harbor and rarely mentions the involvement with the United States. I used this source however because for a few sentences they speak about the involvement between the United States and Japan. It also talks about the thoughts that each nation felt, and how they acted upon the problems between the two.

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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Lutton, Charles. "Pearl Harbor: Fifty Years of Controversy." __www.ihr.com__. 25 Mar. 2008

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> [|http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v11/v11p431_Lutton.html.</span]>

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source was found off a website, but was reprinted from The Journal of Historical Review. This source does not provide you with a lot of background information but more about the controversy over Pearl Harbor. It was useful to me for that my essay is based on that topic. It goes deep into details about Franklin D. Roosevelt and what happened with him and Pearl Harbor. It provides many different viewpoints from different people and sources.

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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"Pearl Harbor." __Concise History of the World.__ Ed. Neil Kagan. Washington, D.C: National Geographic, 2006.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source was found from a National Geographic book of the world. It supplied me only with a short paragraph with simple details about the Japanese attack on Hawaii. It does give you a great amount of useful information towards a research paper but it does provide you with statistics such as the death toll and such. It focuses on the basic idea of Pearl Harbor and does not go into a lot of detail.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"Pearl Harbor." __Encyclopedia Americana International Edition__. Vol. 21. USA: Scholastic Library Publishing, Inc., 2006.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This was a source from an Encyclopedia. It does not provide you with a lot of information about Pearl Harbor but the narrow details about what is was. It was helpful to use quick easy facts about Pearl Harbor, as an opening to what it was. It does not go into broad detail but leaves it at simplicity. They provided a few good solid facts that were supportive towards my essay.

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<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"Pearl Harbor." __World Book Encyclopedia__. Chicago: World Book, Inc., 2004. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source is an encyclopedia. Being that, it does not give you a lot of information about the topic. For Pearl Harbor, it provided me with the just basic facts for example what happened and what was the main reason, and who was it between. It gave me valuable facts that I used in my essay, but if you want to get a broad definition of Pearl Harbor and learn a lot about it, this is not a good source. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Posner, Richard A. “Surprise Attack: the lessons of history.” __Commentary__ April 2005. 8 April 2008 http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/HistRC/hits?docNum=A130939133&tab=2&locID=s0579&origSearch=false&hdb=ALL&t=RK&s=1&r=d&items=0&secondary=true&o=&sortOrder=RE&n=10&l=dJ&sgPhrase=false&c=3&tabMap=119&bucket=iac&SU=pearl+harbor. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This resource is a periodical source, found off the Greenwich High School databases. In this article the author speaks about how before September 11, 2001 the prime surprise attack was Pearl Harbor. He argues about the controversy about why we were surprised by this attack. He believes that Winston Churchill and Roosevelt knew about the attack. The foremost idea is that he wants the reader to recognize his opinions about the secrets of Pearl Harbor, and why the measures to protect Pearl Harbor were not taken. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"The 9/11 Commission Report." __9-11commission.gov/__. Ed. Alice Falk. 6 May 2008

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <[|http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf>.]

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source I found off of Google when looking for documents about September 11, 2001. It speaks a lot about the controversy of 9/11 and gives you many opinions about the terrorist attack. It is a source that basically will clarify everything that happened on that day and the events subsequent. It was helpful for me in my introduction for that I was speaking about 9/11. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Wels, Susan. __Pearl Harbor, America’s Darkest Day__. Hong Kong: Tehabi Books, Inc., 2001. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">This source is a non-reference book. It gave information about Pearl Harbor, for the example the history and it also speaks a lot about the people involved in this attack. It gives you information about everything, for example, boats, people, planes, and how the attack was staged. It is a good source if you want to learn the basics about Pearl Harbor.