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

Joint Congressional Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack: Part 3 771
in some particular, and you became convinced that the Japanese
language words on that piece of teletype made that message the
Japanese code execute message and you so determined at that
time and went down to Captain Saff ord’s offi ce and handed it
to him, or saw the watch offi cer hand it to him and said, “Here
it is.” “Th is is it.” “Th e thing that we have been straining ourselves
for and setting up all this intercepting apparatus.” Th at is
true, isn’t it?
Kramer: It is, sir. 141
Keefe: . . . . So if the words “Higashi no kaze ame” appear
on this winds execute message the interpretation would mean
“East wind rain;” that is right, isn’t it? . . . Th en you say that
is plain Japanese language. Th e sense of that, however, meant
strained relations or a break in relations, possibly even implying
war with a nation on the eastward, the United States. Now
that interpretation is the same today as it was when you testifi
ed out there before the Naval Court of Inquiry, isn’t it?
Kramer: Exactly, sir.
Keefe: So that if you had wanted to you could have indicated
that those words meant war with the United States, couldn’t
you, and be within the interpretation which you had given to
the Naval Court of Inquiry? It was one of the three alternatives,
was it not?
Kramer: Only, Mr. Keefe, insofar as you would evaluate the
Japanese instructions contained in the set-up of this wind message
referring to the destruction of codes and classifi ed papers.
An evaluation which concluded that that meant war would
then include that interpretation; yes, sir. 142
141Ibid., pp. 4141–42.
142Ibid., p. 4144.