But right now, Iraq, is where the philosophy meets the road and, in judging Buchanan and his critics, it is about as easy to ignore as the elephant in the room.
Posted on 05/20/2005 9:29:23 AM PDT by rdb3
But right now, Iraq, is where the philosophy meets the road and, in judging Buchanan and his critics, it is about as easy to ignore as the elephant in the room.
Not to mention that many of the people in those nations were already fighting within the Red Army. The 6th Polish Red Army is a good example. STAVKA and the NKVD often complained that they could never get any prisoners to interrigate from the Poles because the Poles killed every German on sight.
Then comes the issue of oil. There was precious little extra fuel to arm any of these and all oil had to be pushed out from either the US or the ME and super tankers had not yet been invented. Further more, one of Stalin's trump cards for gaining full control of Poland is that he kept the French communists (who made up the majority of the resistence) from hampering the allies. He did the same in Greece. With such a new war and the Black Sea in his hands, Stalin could have easily forced the Turks to allow him through and then his subs would have been roaming the eastern Med.
Even if America could win, it would have been a long fight back into the heartland of Russia: a march of 1,500 km against a defending and determined enemy who's industry was primed and who was fighting on one front, while the US would be fighting Japan also.
Not gonna happen. Considering the big fear in Japan was a projected 1 million casualties to take the main island, which was going to be a very hard sell to the public.
Was World War II worth it?
Posted by nathanbedford to Proud_texan
On News/Activism 05/12/2005 5:41:52 AM EDT · 124 of 141
I agree with the thrust of your remarks. I do not judge Truman harshly for Potsdam, he was barely brought up to speed after having been isolated from FDR and the administration. A clear indication of FDR's arrogance.
More, to refer again to the point I made in post # 17:
Here is a shining example of the mischief which ensues when we depart from the principle that men involved in great events must be judged by history on what they knew or reasonably ought to have known.
By this standard Truman must be held blameless for Potsdam, because as you point out, the fact of Soviet occupation ( although not necessarily its character)of eastern Europe was established on the ground and there was absolutely no will in the west to roll it back. But, during the ensuing years the nature and character of that hellish occupation became clear. By the time of Churchill's Fulton Missouri speech in '48, Stalin's iron fist was known, or ought to have been known by Truman.
But such had been the fellow travellers' propaganda machine that no one, except Churchill, then out of power and therefore possessed only of the mighty power of his persuasion, would acknowledge it. It is not commonly known today but Churchill was roundly condemned as a warmonger for that Speech in a fashion that was reminiscent of the 1930s. But we shouldn't hold our breath waiting for PBS to dramatize his courage against the left as it did Churchill's warnings against the right two decades before. My point is that neither the American public nor the Democrat establishment had been conditioned to accept the truth about the evils of communism. It was to Churchill's immortal credit that he broke though this fog so sedulously puffed out by the NY Times and the Left. That is why he is the man of the century, indeed a man for the ages. Truman did not and missed his chance for history for he alone possessed the atomic bomb but he could not even bring himself to threaten its use on behalf of the enslaved peoples of eastern Europe.
Why should we abominate liberalism? Because the sons of bitches sold out millions to languish for generations in misery and death for their damn agenda when they held absolute power to do right.
And now this bastard Buchanan is back in the Republican party and the conservative movement after a brief dance with the people he really belongs with. Great. Just great. And reputable conservative sites are still posting this guy!
I used to look at old issues of Willis Carto's (mach shemo!) American M*rc*ry while my blood boiled. And now that sector of American politics is back with a vengeance.
Thank G-d for Don Feder!
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