Dec. 7 and the conspiracy theorists work over times

Before the Kennedy assassination; before the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; before 9/11, we have Pearl Harbor. Unwilling or unable to accept that those little yellow people across the sea bested the mighty United States, conspiracy theorists continue the drumbeat: Franklin D. Roosevelt, anxious to enter the war in Europe, knew about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and allowed it to happen. To accept this theory, we have to ignore that the United States did not go to war with Germany until Dec. 11, when Hitler declared war on the United States. But, we should not allow common sense, and historic fact, to cloud our vision. And it's helpful if we also ignore the mountains of evidence that have since become public knowledge that shows no such conspiracy exists.

Let's start with the carriers: Why were the carriers Enterprise and Yorktown not docked in Hawaii? Conspiracy theorists use this as proof that the United States knew an attack was imminent. The battleship was the dominant feature in all the world’s navies. And even if a small, vocal cadre of aircraft enthusiasts believed that aircraft would dominate naval warfare, the Army and Navy disagreed. Carriers supported the battleline of battleships and heavy cruisers, which was why the Enterprise and the Yorktown were in Midway and Wake Island in the first place. They were returning after having delivered supplies needed for their defense if and when the Japanese attacked. Yes, the United States suspected that an attack in the South Pacific was possible. But take a look at a map of the South Pacific and at our bases at the time. With no idea where the Japanese might attack, which island or group of islands would you choose for an attack? Those closest to Japan or those farthest from Japan? Remember, before Pearl Harbor, no attack had ever been launched from an aircraft carrier. On Dec. 6, 1941, the battleship was the most important element in our naval defense.

We also need to consider the inability or refusal of the Navy to talk to the Army, and vice-versa. What happened is that although the United States had the ability to read Japanese code, messages often went uncoded and even when coded, the information was not always shared. But even if the information was shared, there is no mention of a day, time or place in any of the coded and uncoded messages. The South Pacific is a mighty big place.

Although I agree that Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Frank Short were shabbily treated in the wake of Pearl Harbor, they did nothing worse than work with the information they had. Kimmel and Short were rightly concerned with spies on the ground. And we know now that there were Japanese spies in Hawaii, posing as tourists and taking pictures of military installations months before the attack. No one was prepared or trained for an air attack. Actually it would have been worse if Kimmel had moved the battleships out of Pearl because rescue and salvage would have been impossible had the ships sunk in deep water (and within weeks of Pearl Harbor, three of the mangled battleships were back in operation). Within days of the attack, General Douglas MacArthur also lost the bulk of his command, not to mention the Philippines, but unlike Kimmel and Short, MacArthur escaped being held personally responsible.

Few people understand today how much Franklin D. Roosevelt and his policies were hated (and still are, the Republicans are still trying to dismantle the Social Security system). Conspiracy theorists variously claim that Roosevelt wanted a war with Europe to hide the failures of the New Deal or to help his friends the Communists. Roosevelt did want to curb military aggression, which is why he brought sanctions to bear on Japan when that country invaded China. At the time of Pearl Harbor, the US military was smaller than that of Yugoslavia. If Roosevelt was preparing for war, wouldn't he have created a stronger, larger, better armed military than that which existed in December 1941? The Roosevelt Administration through lend-lease helped England, China and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union. But he was thwarted by the American First movement, those vocal isolationists who had Charles A Lindbergh as their spokesperson.

The United States doesn't like to lose and it especially doesn't want to lose to what they consider an inferior race. Pearl Harbor was the result of inadequate intelligence, miserable communication, poor planning and a racist view of the world. These are the same failures that led to 9/11.