As the first wave of Vals (inscribed with inflammatory insignia) and Zeroes were getting set to take off from their host aircraft carriers for the unexpected attack on U.S. military resources, the Japanese ambassador in Washington asked to see the Secretary of State. It was 1 p.m. in Washington.
Diplomats between the two countries had been negotiating since April. Japan had been at war with China and the United States was worried about instability in the Pacific region. With Europe already at war, the world situation was extremely dangerous. Americans didn't want a repeat of World War I.
Secretary Hull received the Japanese Ambassador at 2:20 p.m. The Japanese delivered a "Fourteen Part Message" that began with these words:
The government of Japan, prompted by a genuine desire to come
to an amicable understanding with the Government of the United
States in order that the two countries by their joint efforts may
secure the peace of the Pacific Area and thereby contribute
toward the realization of world peace, has continued negotiations
with the utmost sincerity since April last with the Government of
the United States regarding the adjustment and advancement of
Japanese-American relations and the stabilization of the Pacific
Area.
Of course, the "Pacific Area" had been destabilized by Japan's aggressions in China. The "Fourteen Part Message" alleged the China Affair broke out owing to the failure on the part of China to comprehend Japan's true intentions.
One can only imagine "Japan's true intentions" behind such atrocities as the "Nanking Massacre" which had taken place exactly four years before, in December 1937. America, unwittingly, was about to experience another version of Japan's "sincerity" and "true intentions."
As the Japanese planes began their journey toward Pearl Harbor, no member of the Japanese delegation warned Secretary Hull about the impending attack. Although the "Fourteen Part Message" prompted Secretary Hull to exclaim:
In all my 50 years of public service I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions - infamous falsehoods and distortions on a scale so huge that I never imagined until today that any Government on this planet was capable of uttering them.
The document was not a declaration of war. That would come later. That would come after the carnage at Pearl Harbor. Carnage that had been planned by the Japanese since at least November 23, 1941.