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

314 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
War in the west Pacifi c appeared imminent indeed to readers
of page one of the Sunday, November 30, Honolulu Advertiser.
A banner headline read, KURUSU BLUNTLY WARNED
NATION READY FOR BATTLE. Th e story that followed
quoted a former State Department adviser warning the Japanese
ambassador that the United States was ready to fi ght if Japan
did not mend her aggressive ways in Asia. Another story on the
paper’s front page suggested that it might be the Japanese encirclement
of the Philippines that would spark the war. Still another
story, datelined Singapore, reported that a Japanese strike was
expected there and that in the interest of preparedness all troops
had been called back to barracks.
But then the situation seemed to ease. Nomura and Kurusu
in Washington asked the U.S. government to continue their
conversations. U.S. offi cials in Washington who were reading
MAGIC knew this was merely a ruse to permit Japan to stall
for time; they had read Tokyo’s November 29 instructions to the
two Japanese ambassadors to “please be careful that this does not
lead to anything like a breaking off of negotiations.” 10 But the
Hawaiian commanders did not know this. Th e lengthy meeting
of Secretary of State Hull with the two Japanese envoys on
Monday, December 1, was reported in the Hawaiian press, giving
the impression that the crisis was over, at least for the time being.
An Associated Press story in Th e Honolulu Star-Bulletin datelined
Tokyo, December 5, reinforced this impression:
A Japanese government spokesman expressed the belief today
that the United States and Japan will “continue with sincerity
to fi nd a common formula for a peaceful solution in the
Pacifi c”. 11
10Ibid., part 12, p. 199.
11Walter Karig, Battle Report: Th e Atlantic War (New York: Farrar & Rinehart,
1943), p. 8.