Forwarded from Anthony (WWII)

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

While I agree with Lou's main point about the US and WWII in his post (
Subject: WWII From: Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx> Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002
08:48:36 -0400 In-Reply-To: <537EC54A-C92D-11D6-897B-0050E4962E11@xxxxxxx>
References: <20020915212913.3551aff8.zak@xxxxxxxxxxxx>), I think he is off
on one of the most important details. Lou wrote,

"What brought the United States into the war was not a determination to rid
the world of fascism, but a response to the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor. It was only when Japan threatened US economic interests in the
Pacific that Washington entered the war. There is a transcript of statement
made to the War Cabinet by Henry Stimson in November, 1941 that confirms
this interpretation. ..."

No doubt the immediate trigger for US entry into the war was the Japanese
offensive in the Pacific - including the attack on Pearl Harbor - in
December, 1941. However, I think the historic record amply demonstrates
that Roosevelt had been planning to get into the war for a very long time -
and that many, many measures had already been taking - including secretly
fighting with Brits - long before Pearl Harbor.

The quote from Stimson supports this view if you read it carefully. The
most powerful sector of capital in the USA had decided to enter the war
with Roosevelt as its war leader - not as a war to defeat fascism, but as a
war to make the USA the most powerful imperialism in the world. That
decision put many corporate leaders into Roosevelts government, and
marginalized a few others - like the Bush family.

All the best, Anthony


Louis Proyect
www.marxmail.org



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