美国国家公共电台 NPR No, FDR Did Not Know The Japanese Were Going To Bomb Pearl Harbor

No, FDR Did Not Know The Japanese Were Going To Bomb Pearl Harbor 

play pause stop mute unmute max volume 00:0003:37repeat repeat off Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser¹ to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. DAVID GREENE, HOST: 

Seventy-five years ago tomorrow, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, destroying much of the U.S. fleet and drawing America into World War II.

It did not take long for the conspiracy² theories to spread, including one that continues today alleging³ that President Franklin Roosevelt knew of the attack beforehand and used it to steer⁴ public opinion in favor of going to war. It's World War II era fake news, as NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.

QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE⁵: The history of the attack is clear. There are even a few veterans left who saw it happen.

EARL SMITH: I was on the USS Tennessee. And we couldn't fire our guns because West Virginia was leaning over against us. So they put me on a motor launch and let me go out and wrestle⁶ the bodies out of the flame.

LAWRENCE: Earl Smith was 93 years old when he recorded this eyewitness⁷ account. The day before, he'd played a baseball game with sailors from the U.S. Arizona and the West Virginia.

SMITH: And the next day, every one of the Arizona players and half of the West Virginia ball club were killed.

LAWRENCE: The day after Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT: Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy⁸, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately⁹ attacked by naval¹⁰ and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

LAWRENCE: Roosevelt had been pushing for intervention¹¹ in Europe against the Nazis¹² for years. Historians debate whether he wanted to join the war against Japan. Conspiracy theorists debate what FDR knew and when he knew it in scary books and documentaries all over the internet.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Did President Roosevelt know in advance? And has a government-led cover-up continued to this day?

ROB CITINO: There is not a shred¹³ of evidence that President Roosevelt knew about an attack on Pearl Harbor.

LAWRENCE: Rob Citino is senior historian at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. He says the FDR-knew conspiracy never dies.

CITINO: It's ridiculous, but it's evergreen¹⁴. It never stops. My students - over 30 years, there'd always be somebody in class - Roosevelt knew all about it.

LAWRENCE: Jean Edward Smith wrote a biography of Roosevelt. He says the intercepted¹⁵ intelligence that might have warned the president never made it to him or the U.S. fleet.

JEAN EDWARD SMITH: He was totally caught off guard by it. The record is clear. There was no evidence that the Japanese were moving toward Pearl Harbor that was picked up in Washington.

LAWRENCE: That's not to say the White House wasn't expecting some kind of attack from Japan, maybe against U.S. bases in the nearby Philippines. Roosevelt had been tightening¹⁶ the screws - strong economic sanctions on Japan - to hinder the Japanese conquest of China. Historian Rob Citino says FDR figured sanctions would work.

CITINO: Sanctions are better than war, if you have time to let them apply and if there's somebody sensible on the other side. He was wrong in that assessment¹⁷. Pearl Harbor was kind of unintended consequences for both sides.

LAWRENCE: The U.S. didn't think Japan would attack, and Japan didn't think the U.S. had the stomach to rebuild its navy then launch a bloody¹⁸ fight, island by island, across the Pacific.

Citino says it's bad assumptions and poor intelligence like this that start wars - things that, in hindsight, look so obvious that the conspiracy theories outlive the eyewitnesses¹⁹ to the battle. Quil Lawrence, NPR News.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

3 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。

4 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

7 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

8 infamy   

n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行

参考例句：

• They may grant you power,honour,and riches but afflict you with servitude,infamy,and poverty.他们可以给你权力、荣誉和财富，但却用奴役、耻辱和贫穷来折磨你。
• Traitors are held in infamy.叛徒为人所不齿。

9 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

10 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

14 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

15 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

16 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

17 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

18 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

19 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。