[franalexes]

Randolph,
You may not have all the details, but there is a lot of truth in what you have written. Many mistakes were made by people in our government and military; people who were in "authority". Most were not intentional but it is the nature of the beast when you start to think that government knows best.
Our navy was attacked that day. A lot of our ships were distroyed. Not one aircraft carrier thou. Carriers were under a different command and someone could see the risk and thus all the carriers were at sea.

Likewise the sinking of the Lusitania prior to WWI.