British spies helped the Japanese to plan the Pearl Harbor attack.

[whitehall]

You have to keep in mind that the US was virtually a blind giant during the 30's. The State Dept consisted of old money elitists appointed to ambassador posts enjoying exotic lifestyles sometimes at their own expense. There was no "intelligence agency" as we know it today. The Navy had what was called an "intelligence dept" but it relied on the technology of the day and there was no central clearing house for information. The US had no espionage or counter espionage network and once the war started the courts ruled that the FBI would be the lead espionage agency even though Hoover's experience in espionage was limited to political enemies. The Brits were shocked about how little the US really understood about intelligence. No wonder the Japanese were able to sail across the Pacific and catch us with our pants down.

I guess we corrected that within six months when American code breakers allowed the Americans to lie in wait and destroy the Japanese carrier force at Midway.

I really cannot believe this thread. Although there may have been some British cooperation with the Japanse in the 1920s, to claim that Britain aided the attack on Pearl Harbor is over the top. What would this gain Britain? It insured the loss of their Asian Empire. The only good it did was insure US entry into the war.

FDR was taking steps to curb Japanese aggression. Unfortunately his steps lead to the Japanese attack. However, his plan would not been to decimate the American fleet. Also, blaming FDR for American lives lost during WWII is really off base, the blame would more properly go to the governments of Japan and Germany.

Did FDR do a superlative job of running the war? No, but he did a credible job and we did win. I have more objection to how he navigated the end of the war. He seemed to don rose-colored classes when it came to Uncle Joe. I believe that people on this thread are allowing their objections with FDR's domestic policies to cloud their judgment.

We corrected nothing. We continued to rely on dedicated Navy personnel to analyze 1/10th of Japanese codes and hoped for the best. The US had no central intelligence agency to analyze information and no espionage or counter-espionage network. When Nazi admiral Canaris indicated a willingness to work with the Allies his efforts were ignored while Hoover's FBI agents were trolling Long Island beaches hoping to catch a wet spy.

 

[konradv]

Irrelevant to the fact that FDR deliberately provoked the attack, via many other far less covert means.

But thanks for the info anyways.

Blame America First!

No

He's properly blaming fdr. He got Americans killed to preserve his legacy.

He recognized a danger when others didn't. You aren't saying Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were benign, are you?