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

866 Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
that situation, it is not strange that the Fleet was surprised by the
attack of Japanese torpedo planes and bombers that fateful Sunday
morning, December 7, 1941. And then when the extent of the damage
was known, it was Roosevelt who orchestrated a cover-up to make
Admiral Kimmel and General Short scapegoats and to conceal any
negligence on the part of the administration.
Th e revelation herewith of the address Roosevelt would have
made to Congress on December 8 or 9, if the December 7 attack
had not intervened, indicates that Roosevelt would have ordered
the U.S. armed forces to take the off ensive against the Japanese,
without waiting for an attack on U.S. territory. Th us the attack on
Pearl Harbor became FDR’s excuse, not his reason, for calling for
the United States’s entry into World War II.
* * * * *