I'm sure there are probably a few experts here.  We've all seen the movies, but the idea that we intentionally let it happen still seems pretty far fetched to me.

The question is how exactly were we surprised?  I suppose the technology wasn't really there for passive monitoring, but did we really have our heads in the sand and weren't actively patrolling?

I'm sure they had picked up chatter.  So it's hard to believe we didn't have active patrols, or that they actually got past us (which, I assume, is why the conspiracy theories have legs).

The attack on Pearl Harbor, before 9/11, was the greatest miss in US military history. The miss and study on how we missed it was one of the main reasons we created the CIA, NSA, and DIA in 1947. It also was heavily studied as we looked to avoid the same mistake during the Cold War. I studied it quite a bit back in school. 

There is a ton of good intel reading on how we missed it. 

A really good one, probably the best one, is Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision by Roberta Wohlstetter.  https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Harbor-Decision-Roberta-Wohlstetter/dp/0804705984

Another book came out a few years ago: Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to Attack. 

https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Pearl-Harbor-Twelve-Attack/dp/1476776466/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&linkCode=ll1&tag=smithsonianco-20&linkId=e7bc504e5b32e740c3025bec26779286 

A few articles too:

https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/about/cryptologic-heritage/historical-figures-publications/publications/wwii/pearl_harbor_revisited.pdf 

https://foreignpolicy.com/2012/01/03/the-ten-biggest-american-intelligence-failures/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-almost-everyone-failed-prepare-pearl-harbor-1-180961144/

I can't answer the OP question, but I do recommend watching the WW2 in color docuseries on Netflix. It is AWESOME.

posted by gut

The question is how exactly were we surprised?  I suppose the technology wasn't really there for passive monitoring, but did we really have our heads in the sand and weren't actively patrolling?

I've always been struck by reports of how the radar operators spotted the initial wave of 100-some planes early that morning and wrote it off as a B-17 squadron doing exercises or something such.

  Even with radar being a new technology, it almost seemed ignoring that signal could have been part of a greater conspiracy - or was it just fear of not making waves?

Here's an interesting article about a historian's correspondence with one of the radar techs until that tech passed away in 2003:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-man-who-tried-to-stop-pearl-harbor

We got caught with our pants down.  Period.  #vball10set

finding the right skills to your startup might be easier with those proven hiring guidelines.
learn how to attract and maintain gifted human beings. read an interview with ex-googler david bizer. highlights: we're a group of startup fans, we've a 、global reach 

Welcome to OC.

posted by BRF

We got caught with our pants down.  Period.  #vball10set

How so? Did people think Tribe was bringing him back? I assumed he was gone once the season ended.

posted by Automatik

I can't answer the OP question, but I do recommend watching the WW2 in color docuseries on Netflix. It is AWESOME.

Agreed 100%

posted by Laley23

How so? Did people think Tribe was bringing him back? I assumed he was gone once the season ended.

Admiral Tojo never signed with the Tribe however. He flirted with the idea once he became a free agent. In the end, he just felt that waging a naval war in the Pacific was a better fit for him. 

posted by Dr Winston O'Boogie

Admiral Tojo never signed with the Tribe however. He flirted with the idea once he became a free agent. In the end, he just felt that waging a naval war in the Pacific was a better fit for him. 

Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread. 

posted by Laley23

Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread. 

You are always the practical one when it comes to the Tribe.  I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.

LOL at your comment placement on this thread, though!

posted by Laley23

Lol, saw BRF and just assumed it was the Tribe thread. 

Hey, it was good for a chuckle.