Pearl harbour attacks
The attacks on pearl harbour on 7th December 1941 by Japan are one of the most remembered scenarios in American history. Americans on this part of Hawaii were woken up by more than 300 Japanese warplanes. This surprise attack is remembered by most Americans because it was unimaginable. What America lost on this day cannot be forgotten. However, this is just a small issue compared to the fact that it was rumoured that the American government of the time knew that Japan would attack pearl harbour. Whether the American government and president Roosevelt knew that Japan would attack pearl harbour was well known and determined but due to American ignorance; Japan attacked and America had to bear the adverse consequences of the attack.
Immediately after the pearl harbour attacks, there were rumours that President Roosevelt and the American government of the time knew that Japan would attack pearl harbour sooner or later. Different American authors have researched on this claim and have written varying things on this issue. According to Borch, America and Japan were bound to conflict because they were exploring the same place. At the time, America had interests on East Indies which had also interested Japan for a long time. Despite having same interest, America maintained bilateral relations with Japan because she did not want to create tension with Japan (Borch, 76).
While America did not want to create any tensions, Japan also indicated that they had no issues with America. However, they created a silent enmity and started to plan how they could attack America. America did not expect this and continued their good relations with Japan. Therefore, when Japan attacked pearl harbour, Americans were astonished and could not understand why Japan attacked them. Attack on Pearl harbour was well timed. President Roosevelt had order more warships and naval ships to be moved to pearl harbour to protect its interest in East Indies. Japan had researched well and knew that America had moved some of its battle equipment to pearl harbour. She knew that it would affect America deeply and decided to attack.
Most people keep wondering why Japan attacked the American fleet on pearl harbour. The main objective of Japan was to neutralize American fleet to East Indies to facilitate easy penetration to the region. America was the only competitor to Japan at the time and Japan was aware that if it crippled America, it would take over the East Indies territories without any competition. That way, Japan would exploit the unexploited resources in Malay and East Indies such a rubber, oil and minerals (Borch, 42). At the same time, Japan would be the dominating country in the whole of pacific and would do anything she wished.
While some people are of the opinion that the American government for knew anything about the attack, others are of totally different view. Some resources indicate that American government was expecting an attack on Pearl harbour by Japan in late 1941. This was based on the warnings America had been given. In January 1941, Peruvian envoy in Japan Dr Ricardo Shreiber informed the secretary of the American embassy Max bishop that Japan was planning to attack on America. Ricardo had first hand intelligence information that Japan was preparing for a surprise attack on Pearl harbour. Max Bishop sent the information he had obtained to Naval Intelligence and Admiral Kimmel at Hawaii.
This was the first warning to America but nothing much was done. After two months that is in March 1941 two Americans, Bellinger and Martin predicted that if Japan were to attack America, they would strike Pearl harbour early in the morning. This was because that is where the American fleet was based and was the only threat to Japanese dominancy in East Indies. The two Americans informed their superiors and again nothing much was done. In July 1941, An American military attaché in Tokyo Japan Smith Hutton reported to authorities back in America that Japan was secretly practising at Ariake bay. This Japanese bay closely resembled pearl harbour. Hutton claimed that Japan would be attacking pearl harbour (Emerson, 25).
In the same month, another American attaché but in Mexico forwarded a report he had obtained to American authorities. The report showed that Japan was constructing submarines and other military equipment with the aim of attacking America. This attaché also claimed that Japan was practising how she would carry out an attack on Pearl harbour. Barely a month later, A British agent commonly known as tricycle warned FBI that Japan was planning to attack Pearl harbour and that the attack would be very soon. FBI agents who received the information claimed that the information from tricycle was too complete and precise to be believed.
Within the same month, information from Kilsoo Haan who was an agent from Korea informed a journalist from CBS that he had proof that Japan would attack Pearl harbour before Christmas of that year. In about a month, Kilsoo informed an American senator Guy Gillette that Japan would attack Pearl harbour in either December or Japan. Unlike other American authorities, Gillette took this threat seriously and informed the intelligence, the navy and President Roosevelt face to face (Emerson, 25)
At that juncture, it is evident that President Roosevelt was well aware of the warnings that had been given. Of course information gets to the president whenever any information is sent back home from embassies across the world. At the same time, American soldiers were able to crack a communication code for Japan. The information had been sent from Japan naval intelligence to their consul in Honolulu requesting for information about the specific location of the America fleet. American top government officials argued that there would be no other reason for knowing the specific location of American fleet other than to attack it.
Some sources indicate that Roosevelt was very concerned about the issue. He claimed that he could never declare war and never make a war because the congress would debate for months whether it was good for America to go to war or not. This made the Roosevelt to relax because he had no powers to declare or make war. This information therefore shows that the president was aware that Japan could attack pearl harbour. After all, the warnings were too many to ignore (Rational revolution, 3).
Since the president was aware of the warnings and the objective of the Japanese, he would have done better to protect his people. Information from these sources indicates clearly that Roosevelt was aware of what was happening. Instead, he did nothing until Japan had attacked pearl harbour. Just like it was predicted by the two Americans, Japanese war planes launched their attack early in the morning. America was caught in such a surprise that so many people were killed and so many military assets were destroyed. Therefore, the rumours that the American president of the time Roosevelt knew that Japan would attack pearl harbour cannot be out ruled; all indicators are that he knew that perfectly well.
Bibliography
Borch, Frederic L.; Martinez, Daniel. Kimmel, Short, and Pearl Harbour: the final report revealed. Washington DC: Naval Institute Press, 2005. Print.
Emerson, Mark. Pearl harbour: Mother of all conspiracies. Abe books, 2002.
Rational revolution. FDR provoked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. 22 May 2003.
Web. 07 November 2011.
Hakim, Joy. A History of Us: War, Peace and all that Jazz. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Print.
Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The rising sun in the Pacific, 1931-April 1942, University of Illinois Press, 2001. Print.
