To add to this: One of the reasons they originally targeted Pearl Harbor was to take out our oil and fuel reserves there, but at the last minute they changed ta

To add to this: One of the reasons they originally targeted Pearl Harbor was to take out our oil and fuel reserves there, but at the last minute they changed targets and went for our ships instead. From what I've read, if they had taken out our reserves there, our entire foothold in the pacific would have been lost for a year plus while we rebuilt, and we would've had to move our carrier forces back to the pacific coast, which would've been devastating at the time. The entire pacific theatre effort from the U.S. would've been crippled before it could've started. War is really just a game of logistics.