I am also in the camp of those who hold that FDR knew ahead of time, and acted to scapegoat Admiral Kimmel and General Short, the commanders in Hawaii — after he had left them even more blind than they would have been on their own.
Yet I think FDR did not anticipate how hard the Japanese would be able to hit, how much we would lose, and we all lucked out in the Battle of Midway.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/history/american/576
I agree w/ you completely. IMO, FDR was itchin’ to get the US involved in WWII so he could help his good friend Uncle Joe fight the Nazis. The Germans might have been able to defeat the Russians had it not been for the US.
I am sure FDR new, and wanted the attack. But Admiral Kimmel and General Short certainly made it worse by bonehead moves on their part.
If Admiral Kimmel and General Short had cooperated together and set up a system to USE the information that was provided by a fully functioning radar system, the loss would have been much, much less.