This trend of affairs would, if left unchecked… endanger the very existence of our nation. Our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation… have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel… our Empire to submission. Japan’s war declaration against the United States (and Great Britain) made very specific mention of the oil sanctions: On the 7th of December, 1941, early Sunday morning, the Japanese Empire took its measures… delivering its hammerblow to the American Pacific fleet, snoozing at anchor in the Hawaiian Islands. Consequently, our Empire, to save its very life, must take measures to secure the raw materials of the South Seas. Having broken the Japanese diplomatic code, the Americans knew, among many other things, what Foreign Minister Teijiro Toyoda had communicated to Ambassador Kichisaburo Nomura on July 31: “Commercial and economic relations between Japan and third countries, led by England and the United States, are gradually becoming so horribly strained that we cannot endure it much longer. Roosevelt and his subordinates knew they were putting Japan in an untenable position and that the Japanese government might well try to escape the stranglehold by going to war. If you push a man hard and repeatedly… should you be surprised when he clobbers you in the snout? They did this knowing well that Japan might take a desperate armed lunge in response. United States officials understood they were backing Japan into a corner very, very tight. One week later Roosevelt embargoed the export of such grades of oil as still were in commercial flow to Japan.” The British and the Dutch followed suit, embargoing exports to Japan from their colonies in southeast Asia. 16, “on all exports of scrap iron and steel to destinations other than Britain and the nations of the Western Hemisphere.” Finally, on July 26, 1941, Roosevelt “froze Japanese assets in the United States, thus bringing commercial relations between the nations to an effective end. 1 heavy melting iron and steel scrap were restricted.” Next, in a move aimed at Japan, Roosevelt slapped an embargo, effective Oct. “On July 2, 1940, Roosevelt signed the Export Control Act, authorizing the president to license or prohibit the export of essential defense materials.” Under this authority, “n July 31, exports of aviation motor fuels and lubricants and No. To choke off Japan’s oil was to choke off its oxygenated air. Meantime, over 80% of Japan’s oil shipped in from the United States. These were done in response to Japanese buccaneering in Indochina. In August 1941, the United States government embargoed oil and gasoline exports to Japan. In July 1941, the United States government froze all Japanese assets in its possession. Japan’s severe trespassings against American life and property that morning were dastardly indeed.īut were they unprovoked? Here we are less convinced. Roosevelt, the American president, thundered that Japan’s treacheries that day were “dastardly and unprovoked.”ĭastardly: wicked and cruel, by definition.īy the dictionary’s terms we must agree. Ask him what the United States did to provoke the Japanese, and he will probably say that the Americans did nothing: we were just minding our own business when the crazy Japanese, completely without justification, mounted a sneak attack on us, catching us totally by surprise in Hawaii on Dec. He might say that the Japanese were aggressive militarists who wanted to take over the world, or at least the Asia-Pacific part of it. Ask him why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and he will probably need some time to gather his thoughts. Robert Higgs of the Independent Institute:Īsk a typical American how the United States got into World War II, and he will almost certainly tell you that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the Americans fought back. What did most Americans - what do most Americans - have to say about it? Yet the Pearl Harbor blow was the first to remind Americans of their vulnerability to the sinister world beyond. 11, 2001, rank alongside it, and struck… literally and figuratively… closer to home. The United States has since endured another Pearl Harbor of sorts. More memories die with each year that passes. Thus the evil day may live in infamy… but not in memory. Yet fewer and fewer of these Americans - Americans of the “greatest generation” - linger on. And many Americans not present could still recall their precise location when word reached them. Many Pearl Harbor survivors still drew breath. In our distant youth we recall the anniversaries drew far greater notice. 7, 1941 - 81 years ago today - when naval and air forces of Imperial Japan gave Pearl Harbor a good working over. 20, 2021, the date when the most popular and beloved president in history vacated the White House? 15, 1971… the date old Nixon banged shut the gold window? Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law?
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |