Oh, so you're a student of rewritten history. So it was really America who started the war with Japan. Gee, I didn't know that. Please point me to the proof of that. Have you been reading Wikipedia again or was that Snopes?
It's not revisionist history. You should read the McCullom memo for starters, and then move on to the secretary of wars diaries that explicitly state FDR was waging an economic war against Japan, as well as placing naval vessels near Japanese waters, stating that he was willing to loose a couple ships to legitimise a declaration of war.
Whether or not you are of the opinion that the US should have confronted Japanese aggressions in the WestPac is a different debate. A Gallup poll in April of 1941 placed a whopping 80% of Americans against involvement in another world war, and just 20% in favor!!!!!!! After FDR's intrigue/provocation and Japan's response by attacking at PH, those numbers nicely reversed and FDR had his war!
The U.S. officially declared neutrality in what had become World War II, but President Roosevelt was under heavy pressure from the British to get involved. Roosevelt was also concerned that Japan may threaten U.S. interests in the Pacific. Thus, he explored ways in which the U.S. may intervene despite its neutrality status.
The main obstacle preventing Roosevelt from getting involved was the American public, which was overwhelmingly opposed to intervention. Most Americans remembered the flawed peace that came from the First World War and wanted no part of another. And 1940 was an election year, in which Roosevelt was seeking an unprecedented third term as president. While campaigning, he declared, “I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars.”
So if Roosevelt was going to involve the U.S. in the conflict, he first needed to sway public opinion. One way to do this was to coax the potential enemy into attacking first.
In October 1940, Lieutenant Commander Arthur H. McCollum submitted a memorandum to his superiors. McCollum headed the Far East Asia section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency. In what became known as the McCollum Memo, he listed eight steps the U.S. could to take to provoke Japan:
1 Use British military bases in the Pacific
2 Use supplies in the Dutch East Indies
3 Supply aid to China
4 Deploy warships to Asian ports
5 Deploy submarines to Asian ports
6 Build up naval strength at Pearl Harbor
7 Persuade the Dutch to refuse Japan’s requests for oil and other resources
8 Impose a trade embargo on Japan