Originally Posted by wehateporn

Ten days before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, Stimson entered in his diary the following statement:

"The question was how should we maneuver them [Japan] into firing the first shot... it was desirable to make sure the Japanese be the ones to do this so that there should remain no doubt as to who were the aggressors."

Henry Stimson, US Secretary of War prior to WWII, Nov. 25, 1941