Japan could not have forgotten that the U.S. had been an imperialistic aggressor in the Pacific Rim long before Japan's militaristic conquests in that area, including the American-Philippines War and U.S. opening trade in Japan with gunboats and threats; how the U.S. embargo on scrap, iron and oil shipments to Japan to thwart that nation's attempts to dominate the markets in its own backyard provoked (if not manipulated) Japan into bombing Pearl Harbor.
Similarly, U.S. self-interests contributed to the rise of the Third Reich in Germany (e.g., numerous U.S. corporations and banks funded the rise of The Third Reich).
Aside from the likelihood that FDR and his regime could have avoided entering WWII altogether, could it nevertheless be considered a just or necessary war? Not according to Zinn, who raised and answered several key questions. Was the U.S. involvement for the rights of nations to independence and self-determination? To save the Jews? Against racism? For democracy? No, not at all according to his review to the evidence; the U.S. involvement in WWII had no such high-minded purposes, and Zinn concluded that "Looking at World War II in perspective, looking at the world it created and the terror that grips our century, should we not bury for all time the idea of just war?"
3. The American Revolution?
America's first war, the American Revolution was fought for the partial right of independence and self-determination. It was a clash between two privileged classes 3,500 miles apart. It did not save the Indians. It led to their decimation and subjugation. It certainly was not against racism. And it certainly was not for a democracy of, for, and by all the people since the "Founding Fathers" were plutocrats and not about to promote the general welfare of everyone living in the new nation. Had the war not been fought British control would have eventually dissipated, just as it eventually lost all of its other colonies, and an America of a less militant nature might have eventually emerged.
4. The Civil War?
The Civil War is the most deadly for Americans of any military interventions launched by a U.S. president. Zinn makes it clear in his writings that President Lincoln provoked the attack on Fort Sumter that launched the Civil War not with the primary purpose of freeing the slaves but to make sure to maintain the ability to expand the nations territory and with it greater markets and resources. Lincoln, in other words, was an early practitioner of imperialism by deadly military means.
5. Self Defense?
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