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

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848 <strong>Pearl</strong> <strong>Harbor</strong>: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Seeds</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Fruits</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Infamy</strong><br />

In February <strong>and</strong> March 1941, U.S. military <strong>of</strong>fi cials met<br />

secretly in Washington with British <strong>of</strong>fi cials <strong>and</strong> drew up a joint<br />

U.S.-British war plan embodying a “Beat Hitler fi rst” principle.<br />

Th e Navy Basic War Plan Rainbow No. 5, based on this worldwide<br />

War Plan, was sent out to U.S. military fi eld comm<strong>and</strong>ers. Under<br />

this Army-Navy plan, Admiral Kimmel in <strong>Pearl</strong> <strong>Harbor</strong> was<br />

ordered to prepare the Pacifi c Fleet to undertake <strong>of</strong>f ensive operations<br />

against the Japanese <strong>and</strong> to support the British forces in<br />

the Far East south <strong>of</strong> the equator. However, at a White House<br />

conference it was decided that the most urgent matter still was to<br />

go “all out in the Atlantic.” As a result, approximately one fourth<br />

<strong>of</strong> the fi ghting ships <strong>of</strong> the U.S. Fleet, practically all the trained<br />

<strong>and</strong> equipped marines on the west coast, several small transports,<br />

<strong>and</strong> some other small craft, were transferred from the Pacifi c to<br />

the Atlantic. Th is, <strong>of</strong> course, reduced substantially the strength <strong>of</strong><br />

the Fleet in the Pacifi c.<br />

In the spring <strong>of</strong> 1941, the United States placed in “protective<br />

custody” the ships in U.S. ports <strong>of</strong> Germany, Italy, <strong>and</strong> Nazioccupied<br />

Denmark. In June, FDR authorized the “acquisition” <strong>of</strong><br />

all idle foreign merchant ships in our ports <strong>and</strong> ordered Axis funds<br />

in the United States frozen. Th e United States also “requested<br />

withdrawal <strong>of</strong> German <strong>and</strong> Italian consular staff s by July 10.”<br />

Germany <strong>and</strong> Japan had hoped their 1939 Tri-Partite Pact<br />

alliance would keep the United States from interfering in the<br />

war in Europe. However, the U.S. started interfering with the war<br />

in Europe indirectly—by trying to keep the Japanese fully occupied<br />

in the ongoing Japan-China war so they would not go to<br />

the aid <strong>of</strong> Germany. Th e United States assisted Chiang Kai Shek<br />

in China fi nancially. And she helped to build the Burma Road<br />

<strong>and</strong> organized Chennault’s American Volunteer [Flying Tiger]<br />

Group which fl ew supplies “over the hump” into China.<br />

Representatives <strong>of</strong> the Americans, Dutch, <strong>and</strong> British met in<br />

Singapore in the spring <strong>of</strong> 1941. Th ey drew a line beyond which the<br />

Japanese armed forces could not attack without evoking responses

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