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We did not blockaid or interdict ANY supply routes. We only refused to sell them goods that they would use for their continuing A-hole act in China. Instead of knocking off their crap and acting right, they decided to expand their war and attack and gain the oil, rubber and other resources in Southeast Asia and Indonesia.

But they were not forced into an attack,,,unless of course you agree that they had a right to continue to do their brutal attack in China with free access to American raw materials. Do you argue we SHOULD have kept the oil and raw materials flowing to the Japanese war machine?

What childish logic. The fact is that the Japanese WOULD attack us if we interfered IN ANY WAY with their oil and raw material pipelines, and we knew it. The were imperialistic, murderous and belligerent and waging war in China, and run by an Army hell bent on ruling the entire "Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere." There was NO WAY they weren't going to attack under ANY conditions of being restrained.

So - given that WORLD WAR is the alternative, what "should" we have done? Well, if we WANTED to fight, we certainly did the right thing. If we didn't, then any student of international politics could have come up with several dozen alternatives to what we DID do.

Roosevelt & Co. wanted the war, not just against Japan but also to get into it in Europe. But they needed a reason the people of the USA would go for. Pearl Harbor was the reason, and the idiot Japanese war machine was the perfect target for their trap.

Youre right. Folks want to make this a black & white issue, its not. In fact, Marshall & Stark warned the president against sending the final 'proposal' to Japan, knowing damn well it would result in a war declaration and they did not feel our army and navy were ready. Lord Halifax of GB was mortified, because he knew Japan would certainly attack Singaport & HK.

All knew war was coming, but they wanted it in 42 some time, when the defense buildup was further along.

Add to this the fact that while washongton was reading Japan's diplomatic code, including the 'bomb plot' message, and NOT sharing the info with Kimmel and Short in Hawaii, and that Hawaii had not received any kind of a war warning for two weeks prior to the attack as events in the Pacific were building towards a climax (except the one sent via commercial telegram and received some hours after the attack), and you have a very good case for criminal incompetance in DC.

I'm certain FDR was not surprised Japan attacked on Dec 7, but I do believe he was surprised at the location of the attack, and obviously its dramatic affect.