|
|
Article: How America Broke the Codes
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- August 21, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
COMBINED FLEET DECODED The Secret History of American
Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II By John Prados
Random House. 832 pp. $37.50
"We are going to war," the Japanese leader said to a colleague,
"but there is not one of us who believes we can be successful.
Neither in the Army nor the Navy, nor in the Ministry of Finance is
there a single person who thinks we can win. {But} there is no
alternative. We are bound to fight, even at the price of our very
national existence." Were these the words of Gen. Hideki Tojo or some
other top Japanese official ordering an attack on Pearl Harbor in
1941? No, they were the words of Prince Hirobumi Ito, spoken in 1904.
Japan was about ...