http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.html
The website “Pearl Harbor- Mother of All Conspiracies” is the epitome of an effective website for those individuals who believe in a conspiracy surrounding Pearl Harbor. This website, created by the author, Mark Willey, contains an excerpt from the first chapter of his book, Mother of Conspiracies, which is sold online and through Borders Bookstores. There are no sponsors, the date created is not listed, nor is there a notice for when the website was last updated.
Mr. Willey’s website is well written and easy to navigate. However it is not visually appealing and it is somewhat difficult to read due to small print and crowded type. The author’s statements are credible and accurate. He quotes from public documents from the Navy Court of Inquiry, the Army Board Report and the Joint Congressional Committee Report.
Although Mark Willey’s writing is credible, and he utilizes trustworthy sources for his information, the author is biased. He is adamant about there being a conspiracy involving the United States government and Pearl Harbor. Mr. Willey does not speak about both sides of this issue, he only addresses his belief that the United States had plenty of warning that the Japanese would attack Pearl Harbor and they chose to stand by and let the attack happen.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Current beliefs
Pearl Harbor is often linked to the term “conspiracy theory.” At this time, many Americans feel that the United States government allowed Pearl Harbor to be attacked by the Japanese in order to escalate our entrance into World War II. In the early years after the attack in 1941, the American people thought that the Japanese totally surprised the United States and that Pearl Harbor was hit without warning so there was no way to prepare for the assault on us. However, there is tangible proof that has been made public that the US government had been warned of the coming assault long before it occurred and even several times on the morning of the attack
Reports about the Japanese plan came from the American Ambassador to Japan, the German Ambassador to the United States, a British secret agent, Korean intelligence, and a famous spy from the Soviet Union (Willey 2005). Our president also heard from the governments of the Netherlands, Australia, Peru and others. American military intelligence had decoded the Japanese secret code called JN-25, and were reading the Japanese secret messages 24 hours a day, one message spelled out the exact date and time of the assault on Pearl Harbor (Willey 2005). On the morning of the attack, a strange submarine was spotted in the entrance to Pearl Harbor and it was torpedoed and sunk. When Admiral Kimmel, the Commander of the Pacific Navy was told of this, he ignored the message (Lord 1957).
Once all these facts became known to Americans, most now believe that our nation’s leaders chose not to prepare for the Japanese bombing in order to have a reason to enter WWII. Also, 9/11 is often compared to Pearl Harbor since the news came out that the United States was warned about this event as well.
In Japan, they feel that the war “brought them suffering, not that war made them do reprehensible things” (Chira 1991). The Japanese government is allowing textbooks to be “sanitized” on how they portray their actions in WWII (Chira 191). The authors revising the textbooks are ‘justifying Japan’s conduct during the war and stating that their actions were exaggerated ‘ (Chira 1991). The Japanese people were very worried when the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor was approaching, they were afraid that the US might re-start the anti-Japanese feelings that were so prevalent after Pearl Harbor.
WWII and Pearl Harbor had a huge affect on the Japanese people. They are very opposed to any sort of war and they will not assist in any military needs that the United Nations requests of them, nor will they help with any peacekeeping efforts needed by their Western allies (Chira 1991).
Sources Used:
Chira, Susan. “The Nation; Pearl Harbor’s Smoke, Hiroshima’s Fallout.” The New York
Times. 8 December 1991.
Willey, Mark. Pearl Harbor Mother of All Conspiracies. Jan. 2005.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.html.
Reports about the Japanese plan came from the American Ambassador to Japan, the German Ambassador to the United States, a British secret agent, Korean intelligence, and a famous spy from the Soviet Union (Willey 2005). Our president also heard from the governments of the Netherlands, Australia, Peru and others. American military intelligence had decoded the Japanese secret code called JN-25, and were reading the Japanese secret messages 24 hours a day, one message spelled out the exact date and time of the assault on Pearl Harbor (Willey 2005). On the morning of the attack, a strange submarine was spotted in the entrance to Pearl Harbor and it was torpedoed and sunk. When Admiral Kimmel, the Commander of the Pacific Navy was told of this, he ignored the message (Lord 1957).
Once all these facts became known to Americans, most now believe that our nation’s leaders chose not to prepare for the Japanese bombing in order to have a reason to enter WWII. Also, 9/11 is often compared to Pearl Harbor since the news came out that the United States was warned about this event as well.
In Japan, they feel that the war “brought them suffering, not that war made them do reprehensible things” (Chira 1991). The Japanese government is allowing textbooks to be “sanitized” on how they portray their actions in WWII (Chira 191). The authors revising the textbooks are ‘justifying Japan’s conduct during the war and stating that their actions were exaggerated ‘ (Chira 1991). The Japanese people were very worried when the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor was approaching, they were afraid that the US might re-start the anti-Japanese feelings that were so prevalent after Pearl Harbor.
WWII and Pearl Harbor had a huge affect on the Japanese people. They are very opposed to any sort of war and they will not assist in any military needs that the United Nations requests of them, nor will they help with any peacekeeping efforts needed by their Western allies (Chira 1991).
Sources Used:
Chira, Susan. “The Nation; Pearl Harbor’s Smoke, Hiroshima’s Fallout.” The New York
Times. 8 December 1991.
Willey, Mark. Pearl Harbor Mother of All Conspiracies. Jan. 2005.
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/6315/pearl.html.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Background Information
Pearl Harbor is an American naval base in Hawaii. It is located on the southern coast of Oahu Island. Pearl Harbor has been a United States Naval Base since 1875. It is considered one of the largest and best protected naval bases in the world.
By the middle of 1941, Germany had forcibly taken over most of Europe and was also attacking Great Britain. There were also conflicts in the Mediterranean, Africa and the Soviet Union. The Japanese had begun their plan to enlarge their territories by taking over the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, and the Marshall Islands.
The United States had not entered any of these wars because President Roosevelt had promised the people of the US that we would not fight any more battles after World War I and most of congress supported isolationism.
However, the United States entered the war on the morning of December 7, 1941, just before 8:00 AM because the Japanese began an air attack on our naval base in Pearl Harbor. The assault on Pearl Harbor lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. When it was over, 2403 people were dead, 1178 were wounded. 188 planes were completely destroyed and 159 planes were damaged. 4 battle ships were blown apart or sunk, 4 other battle ships were severely damaged and 11 other ships were sunk or demolished.
Sources: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World War II. Mitchell G. Bard. 2004. Second Edition. Alpha Publishing.
The World Book Encyclopedia. 1951. Field Enterprises.
By the middle of 1941, Germany had forcibly taken over most of Europe and was also attacking Great Britain. There were also conflicts in the Mediterranean, Africa and the Soviet Union. The Japanese had begun their plan to enlarge their territories by taking over the Philippines, Malaya, Burma, Thailand, and the Marshall Islands.
The United States had not entered any of these wars because President Roosevelt had promised the people of the US that we would not fight any more battles after World War I and most of congress supported isolationism.
However, the United States entered the war on the morning of December 7, 1941, just before 8:00 AM because the Japanese began an air attack on our naval base in Pearl Harbor. The assault on Pearl Harbor lasted one hour and fifteen minutes. When it was over, 2403 people were dead, 1178 were wounded. 188 planes were completely destroyed and 159 planes were damaged. 4 battle ships were blown apart or sunk, 4 other battle ships were severely damaged and 11 other ships were sunk or demolished.
Sources: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World War II. Mitchell G. Bard. 2004. Second Edition. Alpha Publishing.
The World Book Encyclopedia. 1951. Field Enterprises.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Introduction
The topic I chose for my blog is the Attack on Pearl Harbor. I chose this topic because war is something that I am very interested in, and this attack is significant because it was the first time that the U.S. had been attacked. The attack occurred on December 7th,1941 and 3,581 soldiers were wounded or killed.
Some big questions i would like to explore this semester are: Was it actually a surprise attack or did Roosevelt know of the attack before it happened? What was the relation between the U.S and Japan before the attack like?
Some big questions i would like to explore this semester are: Was it actually a surprise attack or did Roosevelt know of the attack before it happened? What was the relation between the U.S and Japan before the attack like?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)