Posted on 08/04/2013 10:54:44 AM PDT by cutty
The military forces would have been annihilated during an evacuation to the south. The Philippines to Australia is not Dunkirk to Dover.
Agree with you. And remember the Brit and French appeasers were actually hitler supporters- Chamberlain’s pals in parliament of whom many were pro-nazis. Later the Vichy French and the British Union of Fascists, and the closeted Brit pro-nazi aristos (like the Duke of Wales who thought hitler was great).
It was actually turned “patriotic” for Brit commies to be fighting the nazis— and this is how the agents in place for Stalin stayed in place.
FDR was all about control of the nation by his dictatorship- welfare state that could not be supported. He was glad to give the ultimate distraction that continued ton enrich his socialist pals— getting the poor survivors of the Depression into uniform to fight a World War. There is a danger of picking up the Comintern’s line on this war in saying this— but it is largely true. FDR was appalling- and never forget the Rockefellers supported him even as they made millions off slave labor in partnership with Ruhr valley German industrialists.
Yea, I know I was thinking about Alaska and forgetting about it not being a state back then.
No doubt that all of Britain, the Soviet Union and communists everywhere wanted the US to enter the war against the German juggernaut that threatened both Russia and Britain. No doubt Britain had cracked the Japanese code, knew that Pearl Harbor would be attacked, and withheld the information. The Soviets had penetrated the Roosevelt administration and used every overt and covert ruse to get the US involved against Germany. Still the Soviets feared a two front war. If the Japanese attacked, the Soviets would have been very hard pressed. They were probably astonished that Hitler declared war on the US and did not get a commitment from Japan to attack the Soviet Union.
Between December 1941 and May 1942, what forces did Roosevelt have, that he could send, that would not be sacrificed, to rescue our troops in the Philippines?
This debate brought to you by the people who have not been following the daily WW2 posts by Homer G Simpson!
MacArthur should have been relieved of his command and court-martialed for his negligence. Instead, Dugout Doug got the Medal of Honor while tens of thousand of troops under his command got three years of hell on earth.
There wasn’t anything in Alaska that could have helped the Philippines at that point. You could ship to Alaska and then re-ship, but that would take even longer. So if you measure from Alaska going that way, you need to measure from Iceland going to Russia to keep it apples and apples.
Yeah, the russkies had already experienced the jap navy at Port Arthur (the Tsar’s navy destroyed). Always important to realize the russians are really orientals, despite the great russians resemblance to Westerners.
“This debate brought to you by the people who have not been following the daily WW2 posts by Homer G Simpson!”
Well said I never miss a daily installment
OK good thank you.
Awesome book, and distressing the misery from their actions so documented.
#15 is a bit overdrawn. The capital ships that turned the tide in the Pacific were laid down in 1937/38. FDR was rearming when the war began; we were just a couple of years late getting started.
Sarah says you can see Russia from Alaska.
Agree with your post. As an aside there is an anti MacArthur cult in America. MacArthur represented a nobility that an egalitarian cannot stand-it drives them mad. Yes, as do all men he had flaws and the egalitarian plays them to the max when in fact it was actions like the author of the main article postulated that really harmed our efforts in the Far East.
Only if you believe the left's version of history.
Respectively disagree that Japan felt it had no choice. Japan wanted war. It had assigned itself the role of leader of Asia. Asians felt humiliated by the dominance of European powers and the United States in their countries. (France Indochina, Netherlands Indonesia, Britain Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and India, United States Philippines and interference in China, even Portugal in China) Japan after its victory over Russia in 1905 and role in WW I viewed itself as the nation that would assume the historic burden of ridding Asia of these demeaning interlopers. It is the motivation that is not appreciated or understood by most Westerners. However it should be understood. Today China assumes that role. It absolutely abhors American involvement in Asian affairs whether it be in Korea, Vietnam, or anywhere in Asia.
“They let these men fight to the death for no reason.”
Nah, it wasn’t like that. The Japanese gained air and sea superiority before the Americans could marshal evacuation forces -which were few and far between. Mac didn’t fully see the threat in time to evacuate and besides there weren’t enough air or naval transports to remove the troops. If they’d tried many would have been destroyed by IJN and air. But they didn’t have the assets so the issue is moot.
The closet evac was Austrailia but there were hardly any planes or ships to do an evacuation with. At best subs and fast attack boats (like Mac used) could make it but there weren’t enough around to re-supply or evac the troops.
And FDR wasn’t setting strategic policy in Pacific in early ‘42, Mac was.
Respectively disagree that Japan felt it had no choice. Japan wanted war. It had assigned itself the role of leader of Asia. Asians felt humiliated by the dominance of European powers and the United States in their countries. (France Indochina, Netherlands Indonesia, Britain Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and India, United States Philippines and interference in China, even Portugal in China) Japan after its victory over Russia in 1905 and role in WW I viewed itself as the nation that would assume the historic burden of ridding Asia of these demeaning interlopers. It is the motivation that is not appreciated or understood by most Westerners. However it should be understood. Today China assumes that role. It absolutely abhors American involvement in Asian affairs whether it be in Korea, Vietnam, or anywhere in Asia.
From what I understand, the three powers decided that Europe was the greater threat, and thus would get a huge amount of materiel. The Pacific WAS left to fend for themselves.
This is no secret. I guess I am missing the point.
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