You forgot our being dragged in to WWI as well. After that war, and the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was strictly forbidden from re-arming, forming an airforce, limited in the number of troops they could organize, etc., and were ordered to pay war reparations. Did anybody in Europe bother to police Germany after the war to make sure they weren't violating the Treaty? Hell no! The only thing they made sure of, was that Germany was paying her owed war reparations, and it took her almost 100 years to do that, because Hitler put a stop to it. When Germany scuttled their battleships at Scapa Flow, Scotland after WWI, the bulk of the iron was salvaged by a Scottish company, and most of it was then sold back to Germany.
The German armament company Krupp supplied most of the war machinery during WWI. At the Nuremberg trials that opened in 1946, Krupp admitted that they'd never stopped manufacturing war machinery after WWI, and they continued to supply Germany, even though it was strictly forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles. Krupps owner, Gustav Krupp was charged with war crimes, but he conveniently lapsed into a mental state that made him unable to stand trial at Nuremberg. So they charged his son Alfried Krupp who had taken over the running of the company while Hitler was in power. Alfred Krupp was charged with war crimes, because the company had used slave labor during the war, and had profited from it. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and told to sell 75% of his share in the company. His sentence was commuted to time served on January 31, 1951, and because there was no buyer for his shares, in 1953 he resumed control of the firm.
Why didn't anyone keep track of the extent of Krupp's military production after WWI, especially what they were producing for Germany? Why didn't Europe keep track of them? Because nobody wanted to know that Germany wasn't complying with the Treaty. That would have meant they would have had to do something about it. It was easier to stick their heads in the sand, and pretend nothing was amiss. So along comes Hitler, with his boasting and bragging, and complaining about how mean they were treated after WWI, and that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh, and how he's not going to take it anymore, and that he's going to turn Germany back into the strong, proud nation it had previously been. Did anyone in Europe try to stop him before he had produced a massive army, airforce, and war machine. Nope!! They all pretended that there was nothing to see there. And when Hitler started rattling his sabers, what did Europe do? They tried to appease Hitler, and of course, they eventually found out that when Hitler got what he wanted from them, he only wanted more.
After WWII, Germany was split into four military zones...American, British, French, and Russian. Did America, France or Britain try to stop Russia from building the Berlin Wall? Did Europe do anything when Russia entered Chechnya in 1999 while Bill Clinton was still in office, when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 while G.W. Bush was still in office, when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014 while Obama was in his second term? Now all of a sudden, Ukraine is a big deal, and it's America's job to deal with it, and provide the majority of the financial, and military aid?
What has Europe done to police itself since WWI? Not a god damn thing, and yet they expect us to jump in to do what they themselves refuse to do. They make the mess, and we get dragged in to clean it up. I was born in 1947, grew up in the 50's and 60's, experienced regular air raid drills, and lived with the constant threat of nuclear attack from Russia every day. The same propaganda they were pushing on us back then, is the same propaganda they are pushing on us today. Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about Russia or Ukraine, or if they destroy each other. Both countries are corrupt, and have been for a very long time. Our getting involved isn't going to change that one bit. In fact, all it's doing is making corrupt politicians here, their family members, and their big donors rich. We have enough corruption here that needs to be eliminated. I don't understand why we are paying for Ukraine pensions, and helping them to police their border, when we won't even protect our own border, or protect people's retirement and pension savings here.
This whole situation is one big fubar, and the honest, hard-working American taxpayer, is getting it stuck up their ass sideways, once again.
HEAR, HEAR!!