ZzZ, let me offer a bit of a reply
The western allies had been unhappy with the japanese since the mid 1930's, chiefly over japanese military expansionism on the chinese mainland.
In about September of 1941, the US, UK, and Netherlands placed a joint oil embargo on the japanese. The japanese had no oil deposits of their own at this time, and were totally dependent on oil imports. Since the US, UK, and Netherlands between them controlled over 90% of the world oil exports at this time, the embargo meant that japanese industrial society could not continue to function any longer than their stockpiles would Last.
Please note that I say "controlled by". Oil was already being exported from the middle east by this time, but it was exclusively under the control of Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum, or one of the american oil companies.
The concessions demanded by the allies in return for lifting the oil embargo were considered unacceptably humiliating by the japanese, and so the attack on the western allies was planned and executed.
It is worth noting that admiral Yamamoto considered the attack on Pearl Harbor something of a failure, since none of the american carriers were caught in port.
But yes, oil was the prime japanese goal in launching the second world war. One of their main early goals was seizure of the oilfields of java. I have read that the people of java hated their dutch colonial masters with such passion that they
at first willingly helped the japanese. This willing cooperation from the locals enabled the japanese to quickly put captured oil facilities back into production. I have also read that the crude of java was so pure that the IJN were able to pump it straight into their ships and burn it like ships bunker oil. The Last 2 anecdotes are from a book by an IJN submarine captain.
Did Roosevelt expect to be attacked? We'll never know, but if he did not expect it, he was a damned fool.
Please note that none of the above is intended to excuse the behavior of the japanese military in WWII, only to explain it.
[This message has been edited by Possum (edited 29 May 2001).]