Part IV of the ZGram series on "Another World War Two Mystery" below:
According to Curtis Dall, the historian Prof. Tansill wrote: "He (Foreign Minister Hull) and Roosevelt knew that Japan would reject this 'program'... It was Henry Morgenthau's assistant, Harry Dexter White, who had worked out the points of the ultimatum." That same afternoon, November 26, Roosevelt sent a secret dispatch to Churchill: "Talks broken off: Services expect hostilities within two weeks "
On November 30, China decoded the Royal Navy Leadership's radio message to the Japanese fleet: "Compelled by the necessity of self-preservation and self-defense, Japan has decided to declare war on the United States."
There can be no talk of a "surprise attack on Pearl Harbor" on December 7, 1941. It was staged by America, and the launching of the Japanese fleet and its movements were known thanks to decoded radio messages, as were its target and attack time. But eighteen ships were sacrificed, as were 2,403 of their crew, and another 1,178 were injured. And for what?
Churchill wrote about Pearl Harbor that FDR and his advisors "knew the full and immediate target of the enemy operation." For example, Roosevelt had instructed the Director of the Red Cross to make preparations for high casualties in Pearl Harbor because he did not intend to fend off a potential attack. To the Director's question, why not?, he replied: "The Americans would never agree to join in a European war unless they were attacked within their own borders first. "
Now the War Lords of patriotic Washington had reached their goal. While the ships were burning in Pearl Harbor, the hearts of the Americans burned with anger and grief. The official American declaration of war on Japan of December 8, 1941 was the generally recognized, justified consequence of this "underhanded attack"! The same day, England also declared war on Japan.
And the greatest success for these international warmongers, as Col. Dall calls them, came on December 11, 1941, when Germany and Italy perforce declared war on the United States. With that, the plan had borne fruit.
Tomorrow: Conclusion
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Thought For The Day:
"The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives."
-- Mohandas Ghandi (Young India, 1927)
Back to Table of Contents of the Dec. 2000 ZGrams