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

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

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15.<br />

Air Raid, <strong>Pearl</strong> <strong>Harbor</strong>!<br />

This is No Drill!<br />

“Intelligence” Supplied Hawaiian<br />

Comm<strong>and</strong>ers was Limited<br />

Unlike the top administration <strong>and</strong> military <strong>of</strong>fi cials in<br />

Washington, the armed forces in Hawaii did not have a<br />

“Purple” machine or access to MAGIC. Th e Hawaiian<br />

comm<strong>and</strong>ers did not even know <strong>of</strong> their existence. Th ey knew<br />

Washington had information not available to them <strong>and</strong> had to<br />

rely on Washington to be kept informed. When they asked for<br />

information so as to be able to make informed decisions in the<br />

fi eld, they were usually assured that they were being sent what<br />

they needed to know. As a matter <strong>of</strong> fact, it was Washington<br />

policy not to forward diplomatic intercepts to the forces in the<br />

fi eld so as to safeguard MAGIC. Th e large department staff s in<br />

Washington were considered better qualifi ed to evaluate the bits<br />

<strong>and</strong> pieces <strong>of</strong> data in relation to the political situation than were<br />

the smaller staff s in the fi eld, <strong>and</strong> the fi eld comm<strong>and</strong>ers were<br />

311

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