Posted on 05/28/2008 10:22:46 AM PDT by PercivalWalks
The latest stupid, petty controversy in the presidential primaries/election is people being "outraged"--and the Republicans demanding an explanation--for Senator Obama confusing Auschwitz with Buchenwald in a recent speech. According to the Associated Press' Obama mistaken on name of Nazi death camp (5/28/08):
"The Barack Obama campaign said Tuesday the candidate mistakenly referred to the wrong Nazi death camp when relating the story of a great uncle who helped liberate the camps in World War II.
"The Democratic presidential candidate said the story is accurate except that the camp was Buchenwald, not Auschwitz...
"Obama's mistaken mention of the camp on Monday quickly generated Internet chatter, ranging from puzzlement to outrage. The Republican Party demanded an explanation.
"'It was Soviet troops that liberated Auschwitz, so unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there's no way Obama's statement yesterday can be true,' said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee."
So Obama--who must be so tired from the endless, endless, endless campaigning that he can probably barely see straight--confused the names of two concentration camps. Big deal--most Americans couldn't even name two concentration camps.
But the real significance of the gaffe is this--"'It was Soviet troops that liberated Auschwitz, so unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there's no way Obama's statement yesterday can be true,' said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee."
An ironic comment, to say the least. American conservatives have spent the last 60 years pretending it was the US and Britain who defeated Nazi Germany, when the vast majority of Nazi Germany's casualties occurred on the eastern front, against the USSR. When celebrating the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984, then-president Ronald Reagan read General Eisenhower's announcement for the day and deliberately omitted Eisenhower's reference to America's Soviet allies.
The first president to properly acknowledge the Soviet role--the leading Soviet role--was Clinton, not because he was more honest but because the Cold War was over so we could stop the stupid charade. It was that generation of Russians--28 million of whom died in World War II, and millions of whom also died at the hands of their own dictatorship--who saved humanity.
The picture above is of the Soviet Army liberating Auschwitz. The video here has footage of the Soviet Army capturing and liberating Auschwitz--it's in German (I think) but it is still worth watching.
Thanks to Valerie, a reader, for sending the story.
Glenn Sacks, www.GlennSacks.com
[Note: If you or someone you love is faced with a divorce or needs help with child custody, child support, false accusations, Parental Alienation, or other family law or criminal law matters, ask Glenn for help by clicking here.]
Still, it’s important to understand that while we may not have suffered huge casualties, American (and British, etc.)
This construct doesn't fly. This was the bloodiest war America was engaged in apart from the Civil War. Our nearly half million casualties were huge casualties, as were Britain's (who lost a lot of manpower in WW1 already). The difference of the Anglo-American theatres to the war raging in occupied Eastern Europe or Manchuria was primarily the belligrents objectives. We fought a largely military conflict against the Germans, while extermination/colonialization were essential elements on the Eastern Front and the Sino-Japanese war. Also the ruthlessness of the Soviets and Asian armies towards their own men, compared to the Western armies, which cared greatly about their servicemen was contributing to the disproportional casualties.
The cooperation Hitler-Stalin started the war and led to the subjugation of Western and Central Europe, which was also essential for Hitler's schemes. To paint WW2 as an merely German-Soviet conflict is a gross oversimplification. Also the Anglo-American fronts on the sea, the skies, North Africa, the Mediterranean, France and West Europe and America's lonely fight against Japan in the Pacific, all done without any Soviet contribution, were essential for defeating the axis powers. Additionaly it was millions and millions of American money and material transported to the Soviets that made them able to withstand the German armies at all.
The ideological/racial aspect and the clashing of two barbaric Dictators made the Eastern Front a bloody hell. Compare it two WW1. The Eastern front was tame compared to the killing fields of the Western front. Had a non-communist Russia fielded an well-organized and well-equipped Army with a responsible leadership against Hitler already in 1939 together with the Western allies, instead of purging their own ranks, terrorizing Eastern Europe and working with Hitler, it would certainly not have sustained the horrible losses it did, also from their own hand, in WW2.
I suppose it's possible that he was a Navy Corpsman attached to the Marines. While it wouldn't be surprising that Obama doesn't know the difference between the Army and the Marines, I think it's more likely that he just doesn't know much about this uncle and he just re-invents the story to suit the moment.
The Marines were engaged in the Pacific Theatre, not in Europe.
Obama is a member of that elite Leftist unit — the Gaffen BS
Not many USMC in the European Theater of WW2.
It’s also possible that he was a Seabee, but the Army has its own engineer battalions.
American conservatives have spent the last 60 years pretending it was the US and Britain who defeated Nazi Germany, when the vast majority of Nazi Germany's casualties occurred on the eastern front, against the USSR. When celebrating the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984, then-president Ronald Reagan read General Eisenhower's announcement for the day and deliberately omitted Eisenhower's reference to America's Soviet allies.
Whatever.
It is true that Stalin's troops helped defeat the Nazis. It's also true that Stalin had his own camps that killed even more people. We even had a Socialist friendly VP visit a gulag and do nothing.
Didn't Bush apologize to Eastern Europe for letting the USSR dominate them after WWII was over? Replaced one tyrant with another?
Trying to minimize Obama’s continued bullsh*t statements is the main attmept here. It wasn’t that he named the wrong death camp but that it never happened at all. Obama’s only relative to serve in WW II is a great uncle who served in the US Navy and was stationed in the Pacific.
So call it for what it is... a lie...not a mis statment...another lie.
This is a complete non-issue. My uncle was a camp liberator somewhere in Europe also. I’ve made the same mistake before with regard to the name of the camp.
We then entered an arms race that almost went Mutal Assured Destruction several times. The Cuban Missile Crisis was on instance. So was an erroneous signal in the USSR that “we” had launched an attack on Russia. The board operator refused to launch a MAD response. He was reprimanded (this was the mid-1980s) his story came to light about 15 years later. I think there was a submarine situation that almost went nuclear too.
The Soviets would probably have had “the bomb” sooner than later but the Soviet ascension as a nuclear power gave the Soviets a “response” to America's strength as a nuclear power.
His uncle wasn’t really his uncle. He got the camp wrong. He may not have even been to the camp.
But he was an excuse for Obama to make a campaign issue out of Post Tramatic Stress Disorder; more “casualties” of “Bush’s war”.
At which presidential campaign event did you make this mistake? I didn’t see the video.
The standards are different for candidates appealing for control over nuclear weapons.
1. When a wolf fights off a coyote, it is of no benefit to the rabbit.
2. Soviet losses were extremely high because they sent millions to the slaughter. Losses are not proportional representations of victory, or Saddam would have done well. Soviet tyranny and Stalin's callousness led to a Soviet soldiers dying stupidly. That should never be forgotten when counting their WWII dead.
Jeepers Creepers. Glen Sacks dot com is an idiot.
The Soviets entered World War II as Nazi allies. The only reason that Britian and France didn’t declare war on Russia was because they had their hand full with Germany.
So the snake they allied with bite them, boo-frigging hoo!
Unlike the Germans, Russia got to keep the fruits of her aggression for almost forty years after the war and is still in possession of some of the booty.
If the Russians wanted peace, they should have allied themselves with Poland, France and Britian in 1939.
He said uncle, and it wasn’t his uncle. He said Army, while he was Navy. He said Auschwitz, it was now supposedly Buchenwald (which wasn’t liberated by the Navy *cough*). He got the camp wrong, the name wrong, the unit wrong, the relative wrong. Actually it looks more like he is a grandstanding liar. This is a big deal. You however only made a naming mistake which is something different.
While it was foolish enough of Roosevelt to cede half of central Europe to the Soviets in Yalta, between 1945 and 1948 the US could have used it’s nuclear monopoly to pressured the Soviets into leaving Europe. In late 1946 American pressure led to the Soviet withdrawal from oil-rich Northern Iran. We certainly could have achieved more than that during the short window of opportunity.
Bingo. Hitler would have been dead in the tracks.
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