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Battle of Pearl Harbor

Decent Essays

This paper analyzed Editors’ (2012) view of the causations of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the planning of the Japanese and U.S. military commanders on the attack of Pearl Harbor. Also, this paper will suggest that World War II started in Japan years before historians believe the war was initiated in Europe. Japan’s early aggression to its neighboring countries has significant and critical causations of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Editors (2012) suggested that Japan was drawn to wage war with the U.S. and the European due to their imperialistic ambitions. Japan’s ambitions were a dangerous notion that led to their demise. Editors (2012) also provided the U.S. military commanders ill assumption of the Japanese and its ill …show more content…

It was a tactical victory for the Japanese but I think they missed the opportunity to fully incapacitate the U.S. naval forces to reorganize its manufacturing capacity. The Japanese forces overlooked to target the supplies and main fuel storage in Pearl Harbor. To prove my point, the U.S. was known to have a vast industrial capability and the ability to manufacture airplanes in a very short period of time. The Japanese forces were not decisive on targeting the warships and aircraft carriers. The raid was simply not enough to delay the U.S. from launching a counter attack in time for the Japanese to meet their goals. My assumptions of a flawed Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor would still not negate the fact that the U.S. forces were unprepared. The U.S. military commanders knew that war with Japan was imminent and yet they ignored the signs or failed to capitalize on defending Pearl Harbor. I then analyzed the U.S. military commanders in Pearl Harbor and their concept of operations before the attack occurred. Lieutenant General Walter Short was the U.S. Army commander in charge of the defenses of Pearl Harbor. I questioned Lt. Gen. Short’s point of view of why the harbor’s defenses were so unprepared. According to Editors (2012), Lt. Gen. Short believed that Japanese attackers would initiate war in open seas. He feared sabotage was more

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