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Was it ‘‘a noble crusade’’? For the liberation of western Europe, maybe so. Was it a just war? That tricky theological concept has to be weighed against very many injustices. Was it a good war? The phrase itself is dubious. No, there are no good wars, but there are necessary wars, and this was surely one.

The author has his history correct. His analysis of history leads me to believe that he is trying to say that World War II and the present war in Iraq are not justified. What the author has missed is quite simple. In World War II the UK, the United States, Russia and our other allies did not have a choice in debating the finer points of the justification for the war. We were in a fight for our survival.

In so far as him glossing over the actions of the Japanese troops actions and comparing them to the actions of the United States troops in battle he shows a clear and abundant prejudice against the USA. The Japanese pillaged the country of China, with their high point the rape of Nanjing. Civilians were killed by the tens of thousands, women raped and killed for sport, babies were used as objects of play as they were tossed between soldiers on the tips of bayonets. Vivisection was performed on live prisoners without anesthesia, some were Brits and Americans and Aussies, in experiments to determine the immediate effects of chemical and biological agents as used in war. Prisoners were routinely executed (beheading was their favorite method) for the smallest infraction or perceived infraction such as not bowing properly to a Japanese soldier. The author has a picture of Dresden that the Brits fire bombed. The lose of life was horrific. The lose of life on our side would have been even more horrific without these fire bombings. It was essential in breaking the back of the Axis. The crucial difference between the Axis and the Allies (Russian troops excepted) is the Axis treated the civilian population as spoils of war to be used and disposed of in any manner their soldiers pleased. The allies with rare exceptions saved and feed the civilian population. The author seems to glorify Stalin because of the millions of troops he lost in the war. They lost millions because of they did not prepare for war because until Hitler attacked Russia, Stalin was an active partner with Hitler. He basically was giver hegemony over Eastern Europe and in exchange he would not join the war against Hitler. Hitler was an evil racist megalomaniac and Socialist which most people do not know because that is not politically correct today to know this. When it comes to evil Hitler was an amateur as compared to Stalin.

This author is not stupid. This author is simply a revisionist of history and attempts to mold it to his present prejudices against the allies and in particular the United States. I do not know his political beliefs but suspect they are hard left.