Quote:
Originally Posted by Snestorm
3: Japan was the major threat to USA at the time. Hawaii, Phillipines, Wake Island, Alaska.
(Yes. Japan actualy had ground forces on US territory).
4: There weren't enough assets to go around, and The Pacific had to be priorty #!.
6: Although there were a great number of ships sunk along USA's East Coast, those losses effected England's war effort much more so than they did USA's.
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I believe this point is discussed very well in "Why the Allies Won", an excellent somewhat-unorthodox look at WWII. I don't have the book on me at the moment, but I'll look up the relevant figures and post them here as soon as I can. The gist of it, however, is that the Pacific was NOT the US top priority. Many more men and much more materiel was used by the US against Germany than Japan at every point in the war.
There was however a major split in the US military and political circles on this issue, which continuously tried to push the Pacific theater as top priority over the Atlantic/European one, very much against Roosevelt's personal beliefs and direct orders. This whole question might very well be a manifestation of that struggle.
Anyway, if you like 20th Century and Military history, I definitely recommend "Why the Allies Won" -- it is a very informative and challenging read
