Nice turn of a phrase, but it certainly does not follow. It presumes that, but for Pearl Harbor, the U.S. would /never/ have entered the war. I suppose that's possible, but it's equally possible that some other provocation would have been found, even if it had to be manufactured.
Recall that the Tonkin Gulf incident which got us into Vietnam was manufactured, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait prior to Gulf War I was all but instigated by the State department, and the WMD stockpiles that justified Gulf War II were simply invented out of thin air.
With these and other (remember the Maine?) pretextual war triggers confirmed, is it any wonder that Pearl Harbor itself is now the subject of several conspiracy theories? The most popular, which is considered "common knowledge" throughout the U.S. Army Signal Corps, is that warnings of the approaching attack force were provided long in advance, but that the "top brass" decided not to repel the attack, but rather just to "ride it out", knowing that a "sneak" attack would surely lead to a war declaration, whereas a successfully repelled one might not.
I'd hate to believe that, but at this point I don't know if it's crazier to believe it or to dismiss it.
Gary
"I try to be cynical, but I can't keep up." --Lilly Tomlin