Piercing the Fog - Air Force Historical Studies Office

Retrospection
considerable support onto which the American airmen could graft their young
intelligence organizations in Europe. Second, with two notable exceptions,
weaknesses in ifitelligence organizations did not lead to any serious failures
early in the war. Admittedly, Pearl Harbor and the Philippines were terrible
defeats, but distance and the heavy commitment of Axis forces to other theaters
had a shielding effect on American military forces. Moreover, America had two
full years to prepare for conflict, while its Allies bore the brunt of battle. Had
the United States not shortchanged and fragmented its intelligence organizations
so badly in the interwar period, it might have significantly mitigated the
problems it confronted in building up the intelligence organizations under the
pressures of wartime.
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