A text published for the sixty-fifith anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Victor gives us a solid and balanced portrayal of the tensions in the world around that time, depicts the major geo-political actors, and provides excellent background information on their respective goals and constraints, particularly the dynamics of the Japanese governmental system.
This book is a very ambitious undertaking which approaches this period with a reasoned viewpoint. It has a clear structure, a logical flow for the reader, and brings to bear a broad set of citations as supportive references.
While stressing that his position is not to pass "moral" judgments, particularly on FDR and his War Cabinet, Victor does overtly rationalize their purpose in using the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor as bait, and hence the over-arching need to keep Kimmel and Short "in the dark" regarding the known pending attack on Pearl Harbor. That this is so is clearly demonstrated by the very well-known comment in the Knox Report (delivered December 15, 1941), the so-called "Knox December 6, 1941 midnight" Washington message, intended ONLY for Kimmel in Hawaii. That the message was never sent is the "smoking gun" and a stain on America's history and the credibility of those "court" historians who ignore its significance, if they are aware of it at all. And, wonder of wonders, that Knox message has never been found - imagine that!
The risk of alerting the Kido Butai was too great, the Japanese had to unambiguously "fire the first shot" ... and that deliberately thousands of lives were lost, that deliberately the Pacific Fleet was crippled, ... Well, the US just had to get into the war against Germany. If this sounds familar, kinda' like the "back door" theory - it should, as it was voiced well over a half-century ago. And, that thesis is correct.
For readers who do not know how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is linked to Germany's declaration of war against the US - a bit more noddling might help. The signal, via a 11.29.41 PURPLE message, of the German action was known to FDR, Churchill, and others days prior to Pearl Harbor - and had nothing to do with the terms of the Axis Tri-Partite Pact.
What Victor presents is old news for some. For those many others some revelations might include: (a) many offiicers are named who openly pointed to Pearl Harbor as the Japanese target, (b) the true reason Admiral "JO" Richardson was replaced, (c) that British DIP traffic was being read by the Japanese, (d) more than adequate resources, on a world-wide basis, to handle Japanese traffic (DIP and IJN), adding to what SRH-149 and SRH-255 already shows (d) highly competent deliberations and high-level decision-making to mask pending attack from Kimmel and Short, (e) the woes that were visited upon DugOut Doug and why, (f) FDR's personal quest to save Stalin and USSR, (g) whereabouts of FDR and his War Cabinet the night of December 6, 1941, ..., etc.
Today, as recent books such as Stinnett and Wilford have found their mark, the indefensible positions of "maintained absolute radio silence" and "could not read any of the IJN operational traffic" are clearly apparent. The current "fall back" position being pandered is akin to "noise" or a bureaucratic maze that interferred with actionable intelligence reaching the Washington decision-makers. Victor's text is the "Closing of the Door" on those excuses. That Kimmel and Short were "blinded" by Washington was INTENTIONAL!
Victor's (page 302) "Whether intentionally or not, Roosevelt exposed the fleet to a Japanese attack by stationing it in Hawaii. Then he intentionally used naval units as lures by ordering them on various expeditions in the Pacific. Withholding key information from Kimmel and Short increased the fleet's exposure greatly and it was most glaringly increased by not sending a warning on December 6, 1941.
Despite the history of war, the idea that Roosevelt withheld warnings from Kimmel and Short for the purpose of getting the United States openly into a European war is still unthinkable to many people, but to fewer and fewer as the years past. As has happened over time with other unthinkable acts, the repugnance aroused by the idea of using the Pacific Fleet as a lure will probably continue to fade."
Kimmel and Short need to be set free from the injustice of their bondage and of the tyranny against them. To do otherwise bespeaks the lack of integrity within the US government and the command structure of its military.
Has "Truth, Justice, and the Ameican Way" gone the way of the dodo?
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