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

U.S. Ties to Britain Strengthened 61
Th e agreement arrived at in Washington, known as ABC-1, supplanted
the one developed in London three years earlier ( January
1938) and outlined procedures to be followed if and when the
United States entered the war. It provided that “If Japan does
enter the war, the Military strategy in the Far East will be defensive.”
Th e United States was not to increase her present military
strength in the Far East, although she would “employ the United
States Pacifi c Fleet off ensively in the manner best calculated to
weaken Japanese economic power, and to support the defense
of the Malay barrier 23 by diverting Japanese strength away from
Malaysia.” Also according to the agreement, the United States
would so “augment its forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean
areas that the British Commonwealth will be in a position to
release the necessary forces for the Far East.” 24
Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, chief of the Navy’s war plans
division, participated in these secret conversations. According to
him, the ensuing understanding was
U.S. Government Printing Offi ce, 1946), part 15, p. 1488. See also part 15, pp.
1491–92:
It was agreed at these meetings that: “If Japan does enter the war, the
Military strategy in the Far East will be defensive. Th e United States
does not intend to add to its present Military strength in the Far East
but will employ the United States Pacifi c Fleet off ensively in the
manner best calculated to weaken Japanese economic power, and to
support the defense of the Malay barrier by diverting Japanese
strength away from Malaysia. Th e United States intends so to augment
its forces in the Atlantic and Mediterranean areas that the
British Commonwealth will be in a position to release the necessary
forces for the Far East.
23 Th e Malay barrier was the string of islands, stretching west from Bathurst
Island, just off the northern coast of central Australia, through New Guinea,
Borneo, Java, and Sumatra, to Singapore on the Malay Peninsula. See Joint
Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 6, p. 2864.
24 Joint Committee, Pearl Harbor Attack, part 15, pp. 1485–550.