ed is a memorandum written by Lt. Commander Arthur H. McCollum, he penned a memo detailing an eight-point plan to goad the Japanese into committing "an overt act of
             war" against the United States. McCollum writes that such a strategy is necessary because "it is not believed that in the present state of political opinion the United States government is capable of declaring war against Japan without more ado"(Trask 4). McCollum suggests eight specific "actions" that the United States should take to bring about this result. The key one is "Action F" which calls for keeping "the main strength"(4) of the U.S. Pacific Fleet "in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands"(4). McCollum concludes his memo by stating that "if by these means Japan could be led to commit an overt act of war, so much the better" (4). Not only was the memorandum endorsed by Capt. Dudley Knox, one of Roosevelt's most trusted military advisers, but White House routing logs demonstrate that Roosevelt received the memorandum; and over the next year, Roosevelt put every one of the eight suggested actions into effect(4).
             Japan had no raw materials of its own to build its military power, and these materials like oil, steel, iron or rubber were imported from the United States. Other than the United States, Japan could only get these materials from European Southeast Asian colonies. They began to overrun these colonies when their allies, the Germans began taking over the European countries that controlled them (Bachrach 18). And so in July 1941, FDR took one of many steps tow
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