The day of the great deceit

Conspiracy theories sprout like ivy and savagely grow to obfuscate the truth.
One such theory '" eventually debunked with the release of a key file from the Public Record Office in Kew, the UK '" claimed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Franklin Rossevelt knew in advance about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. According to the conspiracy, the Japanese were allowed to attack so that the US could be dragged into World War II.

Unlike the fastidious scrambling of conspiracy theories, which admittedly creates high drama, the truth is often clear, even dull.
At 7.15am on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japan launched a sneak attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, shattering the peace of a beautiful Hawaiian morning and leaving much of the fleet broken and burning.
The destruction and death that the Japanese military caused in Pearl Harbour that day '" 18 naval vessels, including eight battleships, sunk or heavily damaged, about 300 planes destroyed, over 2,000 servicemen killed '" was exacerbated by the fact that American commanders in Hawaii were caught by surprise.
The Japanese lost 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate...

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