By now, the evidence overwhelmingly establishes that President Franklin Roosevelt wanted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to take place. He desperately wanted to intervene in the war against Nazi Germany, but he faced a virtually insurmountable obstacle — the American people, most of whom firmly opposed U.S. entry into a second world war.
Of course, this was during a time when presidents were still abiding by the U.S. Constitution’s requirement of a congressional declaration of war before a president could wage war against another nation-state. FDR knew that he had virtually no chance whatsoever of securing such a declaration from Congress.
FDR knew that his only chance for getting the U.S. embroiled in World War II was to provoke Germany or Japan into attacking the United States. In that case, he would be able to exclaim, “We’ve been attacked! We’re innocent! We were just minding our own business! We have no choice but to defend ourselves! Now, give me my declaration of war.”
That’s what FDR’s oil embargo on Japan was intended to do — to provoke Japan into attacking the United States. By preventing Japan from securing enough oil to fuel its war machine in China, FDR aimed to have Japan attack the U.S. Pacific Fleet so that Japan would have a free hand in securing oil in the Dutch East Indies without U.S. interference.
When Japan attacked military ships at Pearl Harbor, FDR got what he wanted … and more. Not only did he get his declaration of war against both Japan and Germany, he also got an aroused populace that immediately dropped its opposition to entry into World War II, rallied ’round the flag, and became enthusiastic supporters of the war.
~ Jacob Hornberger, "Was 9/11 a New Pearl Harbor?," Power & Market, September 15, 2026
No comments:
Post a Comment