Ah, gentlemen. Roosevelt did not know we would be hit at Pearl, and the fact that this myth has persevered without even the slightest substantiation is evidence of the infinite capacity of the human mind to believe in conspiracies. As for the war being "provoked" by the U.S., one is reminded of A.J.P Taylor, who developed the theory that the allies "provoked" Hitler into attacking Poland. Japan was Germany's ally, they were jointly and severally in the process of grabbing the world; any fool could plainly see that that was what was happening. Anything effective Roosevelt could have done that tended to prevent this would have "provoked" a war. And he pretended that wasn't so, which I suppose was "deceitful." And the alternative to such "deceit" would have been to connive at what the Axis was doing. So what's the point? There are only two standpoints on the war, Roowevelt's and Hitler's. Those are your choices. So who's side are you on?