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Cake day: October 5th, 2023

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  • That take on Pearl Harbor is not historically accurate though. US Naval command had Japanese radio transmissions as well. It was more hubris and incompetence than some secret desire for an excuse to join the war. The US was already preparing for war with Japan. And Japan was crazy enough to skip straight to attacking US Naval command in Hawaii head-on as an opening move. Whereas US command assumed they’d take smaller targets first and try to stretch the fleet across defending many locations.

    Japan ironically was both more and less successful than intended because of US mistakes. US carrier groups were sent west out near Wake Island and the Marshall Islands to cut off the attack that was thought to be coming. But Japan sailed around Midway approaching Hawaii from the North. They even had their planes loop around to fly in from the East to cause extra confusion until it was too late. What they found was less resistance than expected because the carriers weren’t there. It didn’t end up being the kinda suicidal knock out blow Yamamoto was going for.

    Congress demanded multiple investigations over the years after. They all bore out a similar conclusion that US command and intelligence fucked up. They went looking for the fight in the wrong place. Assuming the attack on Hawaii intelligence had to be a ruse.