I think I can thank Qanonsense for the lessening of the lies perpetuated about the attack on Pearl Harbor I’ve heard for years. The biggest one is often, FDR made it happened.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The reality is that, much along the lines of the 9/11 attacks, it happened due to intelligence gathering and interpretation failures, racism, miscalculations and hubris. In the long run, it then blossomed into a disaster for the Imperial Japanese regime.
Everything goes mostly back to Japan’s invasion and genocidal behaviors with China. The horrors had been ongoing since the Thirties. The West did mostly little because, hey, it’s Chinese people suffering, not Whites. As WWII got rolling, the Navy moved the majority of the fleets to the Pacific side to let the UK handle the Atlantic where they were busy with the Nazis. Thanks to Hitler bringing the Imperials into his alliance as the non-non-Aryans, conflict between the US and Imperial Japan grew to be likely. When FDR cut off rubber and oil to the, it became inevitable. The Imperial war machine was very dependent on these US exports and the only way they could secure enough to continue was to invade production areas controlled by the West.
What American Intelligence got wrong was when the Imperials would make their move.
Since we could read most Japanese communications, we figured it would be later in 1942 as their government commented on sending a ship to evacuate their diplomatic staff after the December holidays. Meanwhile, the Imperial Navy “disappeared” by implementing radio silence around December 1st. Few were concerned. The Imperial Navy had done this multiple times before so experts assumed there was another training exercise or war games under way.
Then comes the racism angle. The US military claimed Imperial pilots couldn’t drop bombs accurately because of their eyes. As if the cosmetic affectation around the eyes of many Asians did crap to their vision. The numerous hits delivered during the attack dispelled the myth instantly.
Lastly, here’s the big busting on the FDR “made it happen” bullshit. The US’s three aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The conspiracy doofuses love to point out how none were at Pearl Harbor. They’re correct yet their locations weren’t terribly secret for Imperial scouts to find them. Saratoga was in San Diego picking up cargo and planes to ferry to Hawaii. Enterprise and Lexington were doing the same but from Hawaii to Wake Island and Hawaii to Midway respectively; they were in the middle of their errands when the attacks happened. The Imperial plan figured it was wiser to cripple the base instead of sinking carriers escorted by destroyers and support vessels. Even aircraft carriers need to refuel and resupply. It was much easier to do from Pearl Harbor than San Diego or San Francisco.
Now it’s the Imperial’s turn to have what they planned go wrong.
The overall rationale for Pearl Harbor was to punch the US in the throat so hard that while the US was busy regrouping and licking its wounds, Imperial forces could conquer the Philippines, Indonesia and other places rich with oil. After the resources were consolidated and producing, Imperial forces would be in such a superior position, the US would agree to a truce and then a peace treaty, all within six months. There was just a major detail the DC embassy choked on, delivering their declaration of war to FDR before the attack. The staff was slow and had difficulty decrypting the instructions plus I’m guessing they followed the lax Sunday attitude we have. Timing was everything and they didn’t complete the task by the deadline Tokyo planned. Ergo, the Imperial Navy’s strike on Pearl Harbor became a genuine sneak attack. As we say today, not very good optics before the world.
Their next mistake was underestimating US resolve and their success subduing the places they needed to continue fueling their massive war machine. Colonel Doolittle led a symbolic bombing raid on Tokyo in April 1942 to show General Tojo the Imperials weren’t invincible. By Summer, the US Navy pulled itself together to return the favor at the Battle of Midway, effectively neutralizing the Imperial threat, letting the Allies focus more attention at defeating Hitler.
I’d say History played out much better than any grand scheme concocted by these morons living in their parents’ basements. We also lucked out too. Imagine how WWII could’ve gone if Hitler and Mussolini stayed neutral and let the Imperials fight this alone. Would FDR and Congress go ahead and declare war on the other Axis Powers anyway or tell the UK and Soviet Union, “Sorry dude, I can’t help you. I have a problem in my backyard.”