10 Dec.
45
immediately. If Japan has Singapore, all
other East Asiatic questions regarding the U.S.A. and England are
thereby solved (Guam, the Philippines, Borneo, and the Dutch East
Indies).
"Japan wishes, if possible, to avoid war against the U.S.A. She
can do so if she determinedly takes Singapore as soon as possible."
The Defendant Ribbentrop also recognized the possibility of United
States involvement as a result of the course of aggression that he was
urging on the Japanese. I refer again to his meeting of 23 February 1941
with the Japanese Ambassador Oshima, the notes of which are contained in
our Document 1834-PS, which is in evidence as Exhibit USA-129.
The Tribunal will recall that in a passage I have already read,
Subparagraph (2) near the bottom of Page 3 of the English translation,
Ribbentrop assured Matsuoka that a surprise by Japan was bound to keep
the United States out of the war since she was unarmed and could not
risk either her fleet or the possibility of losing the Philippines as
the result of a declaration of war. Two paragraphs later Ribbentrop
practically dropped the pretense that the United States would not be
involved. I quote here from the last paragraph at the bottom of Page 3
of the English translation:
"The Reich Foreign Minister mentioned
further that if America should declare war because of Japan's entry
into the war, this would mean that America had the intention to enter
the war sooner or later anyway. Even though it would be preferable to
avoid this, the entry into the war would, as explained above, be by no
means decisive and would not endanger the final victory of the
countries of the Three Power Pact. The Foreign Minister further
expressed his belief that a temporary lift of the British morale
caused by America's entry into the war would be canceled by Japan's
entry into the war. If, however, contrary to all expectations, the
Americans should be careless enough to send their navy, in spite of
all, beyond Hawaii and to the Far East, this would represent the
biggest chance for the countries of the Three Power Pact to bring the
war to an end with the greatest rapidity. He — the Foreign
Minister — is convinced that the Japanese Fleet would then do a
complete job. Ambassador Oshima replied to this that unfortunately he
does not think the Americans would do it, but he is convinced of a
victory of his fleet in Japanese waters."
In the paragraphs that follow, some of which have already been read into
the record, Ribbentrop again stressed the mutual