
Introduction to Intelligence Studies22
possible that forewarning of the impending Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
could have been provided. As it turned out, the bombing on December 7,
1941, took America by surprise.
World War II
Despite the fact that the Pearl Harbor attack came as a shock, the United
States had been preparing for war for some time. Even before the attacks,
Roosevelt realized that he needed better intelligence but faced several
obstacles. Chief among these was the fragmented nature of the American
intelligence enterprise. Disparate agencies, such as the FBI and the military,
rarely worked together and generally did not share informatio ...