&gt; <i>dctoedt specifically asserts that there were people who thought the US would roll over and cower if attacked once</i><p>For the record, that overstates what I said, which I hope was a bit more nuanced than that.<p>Certainly the Japanese militarists, as a whole, decided to roll the dice that the outcome would not be &quot;An enraged U.S. will counterattack us until our way of life is destroyed.&quot; It doesn&#x27;t necessarily follow that there were those among them who thought, &quot;The US will roll over and cower if we can just take out their battleships at Pearl Harbor.&quot;<p>(Of course, some Japanese militarists had an overly-exalted regard for Japanese military virtue and prowess. So it does seem likely that there were indeed some militarists, especially junior officers, who held the latter view, and yes, that view proved fatally naïve.)