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The Wake attack is a prelude to Tarawa. I've just finished John Wukovits' book "One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa." What struck me was that in the USA at the time, the exact same misconceptions about war that led to our "loss" in Vietnam were in full effect - 25 years earlier. The public believed Japan could somehow be defeated cleanly and safely with air power. Leftist labor unions were even striking against defense industries - which infuriated the Marines on the front lines. There was considerable consternation, outrage, and finger-pointing over the casualty numbers at Tarawa - even after what had happened at Guadalcanal a year earlier. It was not much different than the Tet Offensive being reported as a defeat by the US media - fortunately, we still had enough adults in government (and even in the media) at that time to keep the war effort on track and do what was needed.

I concluded that, contrary to much conservative opinion, the seeds of America's downfall were planted far earlier than the 60's. Very similar attitudes (minus the patchouli oil and firebombings) were prevalent during the so-called Greatest Generation, at least on the home front, and Roosevelt's Stalinist advisors in the 30's were the culprits. Winning the war bought us a respite and 20 years of economic prosperity, just as the election of Ronald Reagan did in 1980. But the overall trend toward Socialism eventually resumed.

There is some truth to what you say. Despite Stalin’s machinations in the Non-Aggression Pact to avoid it, the defeat of Hitler was accomplished at the cost of copious amounts of Russian blood. They took casualties that the Americans would never have accepted in fighting overseas. Of course, the Russians took most of those casualties in defense of their homeland, and their brutal regime didn’t care what it cost to win. The people dying had no say in the matter.

But yes, the entire American way of war is based on substituting firepower and production for combat deaths. You can look back as far as the Civil War to see it’s true; draft riots in New York, bounty men deserting at the first chance to enlist in a different state, etc.... That’s all part of our history.