The two men who had been at command at Pearl Harbour at the time of the attack were Generals Walter Short and H.E. Kimmel. They had been the subjects of a highly controversial enquiry into the events at Pearl by the U.S. government, an inquiry specially designed to, in all likelihood, give the Americans the scapegoats which they so badly needed.
The conclusion of the inquiry was that Washington had made warning about the attack very clear, and all blame lay with the two Generals. Hence, they were the guilty party.
However, Roosevelt’s opponents began to question the verdict. Had enough warnings been sent to Pearl? Had the Government known in advance? Had they really been fully justified in blaming Kimmel and Short?
Just as the D-day landings were being launched, Congress decided to set up two fuller inquiries. The time they were to be held is slightly dubious, and to me suggests a possible cover-up, at the very moment the public would most likely not be interested.
The findings of these enquiries were rather shocking, and as Kimmel and Short had prepared themselves this time, they refused to let blame be pinned on themselves.
There was a secret station based in Hawaii which intercepted Japanese messages but had to send them back to Washington for decryption. Kimmel and Short had not been told about it.
Messages received included one asking for the precise position of ships in Pearl harbour and one from the Japanese to its worldwide embassies telling them to listen for a warning in which the country they would attack would be revealed. A fourteen-part message was also received, from Tokyo to the Japanese embassy based in Washington. This was not shown to Kimmel and Short either.
As the case continued, it became clearer that Washington was probably to blame, and that they had concealed some vital evidence from the two Generals.
The Government’s explanation for the lack of messages shown to Kimmel and Short was that large amounts of information being sent to Pearl Harbour may ultimately have resulted in the Japanese realising their codes had been broken. The fourteen-part message, they said, had not been sent to Pearl Harbour as the Army commander was our riding, and therefore could not be reached. However, later reports suggested that he may have been in his office from 9 am. A reason why a telephone message could not have been given is still unclear.
The Army and Navy hearings found the complete opposite of the Roberts Commission, that Kimmel and Short were not at all to blame for the disaster, as the Government had received plenty of warning but failed to pass them on to Pearl Harbour.
However, had these findings been made public, the result would have been disaster. This would have affected public opinions on the Government as well as Army and Navy leaders, and also alerted the Japanese as to how many secret communications were being intercepted and read.
Consequently, when the finding were finally made public years later, the Government twisted the results to make them appear as if they had actually backed the Roberts Commission. Kimmel and Short had to undergo many more years of legal battles in order to clear their names.
There are two explanations for what might have occurred at Pearl Harbour on 7 December 1941. One reason is conspiracy, and the other reason is accident. Because of the way huge amounts of information were kept from Kimmel and Short, a conspiracy may leap to mind. However, the explanation given for this is plausible, as increased communications may have alerted the Japanese about their codes having been broken.
Roosevelt was genuinely shocked at hearing the consequences of the Japanese attack – even if he had known an attack was coming, he had not necessarily known how large it was going to be. It is highly unlikely that U.S. commanders would have wanted to sacrifice their own fleet, even if miscalculations were involved.
There is much more evidence that extensive human error occurred than a Government plot, and that the purpose of the enquiry was to keep blame from being pinned to the Government, and to give the nation scapegoats in Kimmel and Short. I do not think that Roosevelt allowed this attack to go ahead purposely.
