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Title: Nov 30, 1941 Honolulu Headline: JAPANESE MAY STRIKE OVER WEEKEND!
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URL Source: http://enjoyingthejourney.blogspot. ... onolulu-headline-japanese.html
Published: Dec 07, 2008
Author: enjoyingthejourney.blogspot
Post Date: 2010-11-30 01:15:12 by christine
Keywords: None
Views: 268
Comments: 15
The Truth Concealed: Forewarned, Forearmed? Not at Pearl Harbor on the "Day of Infamy" (Dec 7, 1941) source For most people, the story of "Arizona" and other Pearl Harbor and Pacific battlegrounds paints a black and white picture of what allegedly happened. The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in a "surprise" attack, we are told. "A day that will live in infamy," declared President Roosevelt the following day, in his address to a joint session of Congress as he announced the U.S. was at war with Japan, and therefore, with its ally, Germany. Prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, however, most of the United States citizens were opposed to America's entering the war in Europe on Britain's side. After the Pearl Harbor, the issue was a no brainer. Roosevelt and his pal Winston Churchill NEEDED a "Pearl Harbor" as an excuse to involve this great country in a war (in Europe) that never threatened our national security. And his government made sure it got its "Pearl Harbor" one way or another. In short, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was no surprise. History is written by the victors. They shape the stories to fit their interests. So what we are being told about Pearl Harbor in schools and textbooks is only a part of the truth. The other part has been carefully excised from our history. Big Brother reincarante? You betcha... How do I know that? Well, take a look at the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser, dated Nov 30, 1941 (auspiciously exactly 67 years ago today - to the day!). The top headline reads, "Japanese May Strike over Weekend!" The article even predicted the timing of the attack accurately - eight days before it happened! The rest of the story shows how our government was aware of the oncoming attack. According to some of my military sources, our government subsequently managed to destroy almost all the evidence, including going into the Hawaii hospitals and ripping off the front page of this newspaper. However, private Paul Brown, seeing what was going on, reportedly managed to save his own front page of the Advertiser and hide it from the government. This is one of the very few known copies of that paper. It is supposedly hanging in the Punta Gorda Florida Military History Museum. At least it was, as of March of this year, I am told. Of course, none of this takes away one iota of credit or tribute to the brave men and women who fought during WW II, both in the Pacific and in Europe. But it does go to show us once again that the "truth is the first casualty of war." Tonkin Bay, Iraq's "weapons of mass destruction," are but some more recent examples of this truism. Which is why we must never accept what governments tell us at face value. More then 2,400 lives lost in just one day at Pearl Harbor ought to be reason enough, not to mention the millions that followed.
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#8. To: christine (#0)
Some people have trotted out this, or a similar newspaper, to "prove" that FDR "knew" about the Pearl Harbor attack in advance. The simple fact is - and anyone who owns a world globe should have been able to see this - the US military presence in the Pacific was a major obstacle to Japanese expansion. That presence was most immediate (to the Japanese) in the Philippines but it was backed up by the major military base, and refueling stations, at Hawaii. It was, therefore, obvious, well in advance, that the Japanese (it seems odd to me to talk about WW2 without calling them "Japs") MUST strike at the Philippines and the only way they would dare to do that is with a previous or simultaneous strike at Hawaii. An attack on Hawaii and the Philippines was therefore regarded, apparently on all sides, as inevitable ... the only question was When? Newspapers in Hawaii and the mainland kept predicting imminent attack; for almost any day in the latter half of 1941, you could find at least one newspaper predicting the Japanese attack coming within 24 hours! Some newspapers kept predicting over and over again. So it's not surprising that, eventually, someone won at this guessing game. A repeated question is why the base at Pearl Harbor was caught unawares. It was not unaware, but it was at what now seems a relatively low state of alertness. It must be remembered that radar was in its infancy, so knowledge of the position of the Japanese fleet was very scarce, and it was known that there were Japanese spies (though perhaps only one or two) keeping an eye on the military bases in Hawaii and the Philippines. Nonstop battle readiness, 24/7, would have quickly exhausted the troops ... and might have been regarded by the Japanese as a provocation, indicating an American intent to attack Japan. So, although there was considerable anticipation and tension, the commanders were cautious about any visible action that might be taken for attack preparation. Douglas MacArthur, for example, repeatedly and consistently ignored Washington commands to beef up the defenses in the Philippines -- when the attack finally came, his troops suffered terribly (I have often wondered why he was promoted instead of courtmartialled). To many Americans, the attack on Dec. 7th came not as a surprise but as a end to the suspense.
#13. To: Shoonra (#8)
how do we know he was commanded by washington to beef up defenses?
Read Plan Orange (all american forces west of Hawaii would be written off) also, McArthur retired in 1937 and was recalled in July '41.
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Replies to Comment # 8. Douglas MacArthur, for example, repeatedly and consistently ignored Washington commands to beef up the defenses in the Philippines
#15. To: Shoonra (#8)
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