[Flag_This]

1. Germany was only treaty-bound if Japan had been attacked by the United States, which it manifestly was not.
2. How does "provoking" Japan lead to America's entry into the European war, if there is no treaty obligation for Germany to declare war? It would have been far easier to arrange for an incident in the Atlantic if war with Germany was the goal.
3. There is no doubt that Roosevelt and Co. underestimated the capabilities of Japan.
4. How did the U.S. Navy have any clue where the Japanese fleet was going, or what route they would take, when they had only partial success breaking Japanese diplomatic and military codes? They were barely able to figure out the Japanese were going to attack Midway six months after Pearl Harbor. And again, what purpose did it serve to have the American forces as sitting ducks, when a timely alert would have limited the damage done and still shown the Japanese to be the aggressors?

[Jimmy Valentine]

1. Roosevelt underestimated Japanese capability resulting in more damage at Pearl than thought
2. As to Kimmel and the fleet attacks on Pearl Harbor had been war gamed continuously and the most effective attack was to pass to the north and then attack from the east. Admiral King won a big victory in the Earle 1930’s that way. So educated guess would be my answer