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Pearl Harbor was a target of opportunity. Essentially the entire pacific fleet of battleships was in port and vulnerable to attack. Militarily, it was a no-brainer ... given a chance to severely wound the fleet, Japanese strategists made the correct decision.

The overall decision to wage war against the U.S. was based on U.S.-Japan relations reaching a breaking point. Japan had Asia's largest war machine and had subjugated most of China and the Pacific. It had ambitions to conquer India and Australia, but needed key resources to do so. U.S. embargoes prevented oil and other key resources from reaching Japan to sustain their war efforts.

It's also clear that the Japanese believed that their innate superiority (particularly in training and productivity) would deliver victory. They had steamrolled the other Asian powers and had no reason to believe America could offer much of a fight.

So it was an attack of necessity and a gamble -- that Pearl Harbor would buy them time to consolidate their gains in Asia and force a peace with America.

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