Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

The Countdown Begins 191
Th e battle of the Atlantic is essentially a struggle for the sea
lanes radiating from the United Kingdom, this confl ict is now
trending against Germany. . . . As the weight of the United
States Navy continues to increase, success in the Battle of the
Atlantic should be assured.
In the Middle East, “Th e United States is committed to providing
great masses of material . . . and is undertaking vast construction
projects to facilitate supply.”
In the Pacifi c, “the initiative rests with Japan in spite of her
military overextension.” After listing her alternatives, Miles
believed her “most probable line of action is the occupation of
Th ailand. . . . Th e forces of all other countries in the Far East are
on the defensive before Japan.” He thought the British-Dutch-
U.S. “consultative association for the defense of Malaysia” had
been “eff ective in slowing down the Japanese penetration to the
southwest.”
China was “containing the equivalent of 30 Japanese divisions,”
an important consideration in view of our objective—the
defeat of the Nazis. China would remain in the war and “will
continue to contain important Japanese forces.” However,
Th e eff ective use of China’s unlimited manpower, as an anti-
Axis potential depends entirely on the extent to which she is
able to equip it [her manpower] particularly in artillery and
aviation. . . . For this, she is entirely dependent upon the United
States. . . . [and] China is receiving an increasing amount of
equipment from this country.
Th e United States is concerned with southeast Asia and
Malaysia in two diff erent capacities: (1) “as a possible belligerent”
and (2) “as a prime source of war materials for China, the British
Commonwealth and for the Netherlands East Indies.” Although
we were “sending a few military airplanes to Th ailand . . . this theater
will be a secondary one from the point of view of supply. . . .”