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“The long chain of misfortune and human error led remorselessly to disaster.” (Stewart 173)
Communications within top ranking officials indicate that FDR and his cabinet were making a concerted effort to provoke a war.
Historical evidence suggests that FDR was purposely trying to provoke hostility from Japan in order to rally the American people.
The lack of communication and understanding between Washington and the Pacific fleet allowed the Japanese attack to be a complete surprise.
From an intercepted message, Roosevelt was aware that the Japanese had broken off negotiations and understood the implication of possible war.
Despite this, he failed to communicate this understanding of possible hostilities to military commanders in the Pacific.
The technology of the time limited speed and efficiency of communication in the case of the 14 part message.
This 14 part message affirmed that Japan was no longer interested in negotiations.
An attempt to communication failed when 50 incoming planes were detected by radar and dismissed as friendly when reported.
A Japanese sub was detected and destroyed, but communication was hindered during the decoding process. When the message reached the commander, he chose to err on the side of caution and wait for confirmation.
The events of December 7, 1941 help us to understand how communication can determine world events.
Pearl Harbor has become an emotive icon that serves to bring Americans together because of the many lives lost disastrously and unexpectedly.
One of the greatest tragedies was our failure to acknowledge and communicate messages containing evidence of the attack.
Though we cannot change the past, learning from history may allow us to prevent another such incident with a tragically high price – many lives lost and even more committed to war.
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