Sad but true.
Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 03/12/2010 12:26:09 PM PST by ETL
US servicemen will participate in the Victory Day Parade on Red Square in Moscow on May 9, Alexander Vershbow, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs said. The Americans will celebrate the 65th anniversary of Victory in WWII, the official said.
Vladimir Kozhin, an official spokesman for the administration of the Russian president, confirmed that Moscow had invited France, Britain and the United States for the parade. The French were the first to agree. They now decide soldiers of which troops will march in the heart of Moscow on May 9.
If all is arranged as planned, it will be the first time when foreign military men will step on Red Square pavestones as participants of the parade. Russia invited only military attaches of foreign embassies for victory parades before.
“The parade in 2010 is a special one. It will be the largest parade that has ever been held in Moscow during the post-Soviet years. We plan to use 130 planes and helicopters, as well as military hardware from private collections in the parade,” a spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Is Russia not preparing to make major moves on the world stage? Are they not building up every one of our enemies, including Chavez, the Castro bros, other Marxist dictatorships in Latin America, also Iran and Syria? Have they not pledged with the ChiComs to create a "new international order"? Are they not threatening their former satellites, i.e. Georgia?
You are correct. However my point is that it could have been different.
The same people at foggy bottom and the Pentagon and wherever else policy is made are obviously still in charge.
As an aside, in the early ‘90s I had a long discussion with a retired high level U.S. State Department guy. He told me about a lot of things that we did during cold war days that I had never heard about and certainly never made the news. In a nutshell he said that we were constantly provoking the Russians and had them scared to death we were going to attack at any minute. Some of the missions he told me about were absolutely shocking and the U-2 flyovers were paled by comparison. He said he was surprised we avoided all out nuclear war.
The Russians were paranoid anyway, and we fed the paranoia by the boatload. I am no fan of the people who have risen to power in Russia, and they present a clear threat, but in many respects we are our own worst enemy when it comes to dealing with them.
It is such a shame that we ended up like this with them after the struggle that cost so much and ultimately brought the Soviet Union down. Kind of like holding a winning lotto ticket and then just tearing it up.
The Soviets were our "allies" (Co-belligerents would be a better word) in WWII because Hitler attacked the Soviet Union before Stalin was ready to return the favor. Admittedly a lot of Russians died for their country in "The Great Patriotic War", but, per Patton, that's not how wars are won. Much of those losses can be attributed to Stalin's purges of his officer corps. The loss of those officers' leadership skills undoubtedly led to much higher casualty rates than there should have been.
Thanks for the invite, but no thanks.
What point in time was that?
At the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Lots been written about it and the blunders we made that either directly or indirectly influenced what happened and who came to power.
Sad but true.
*sheesh!*
I don’t know much about the history of WWII, but someone just told me that the officer purges came AFTER the war not during it??
Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba may also partake in this....
Try and remember, they began the war as allies of the Germans. As a result, they still haven't given back that part of Poland they stole while working WITH the krauts.
Not that I am selling the Commie sonsabitches short. They fought over 550 German divisions, while we, the Brits, et al, "only faced about 240!" Of course, in addition to the Germans, we and the Brits also had the Japs and some Italians to worry about.
Of course, Patton was correct about the Commies, but as we now know, Truman was surrounded by real live Soviet Agents, who sold his naïve ass (and ours) down the river.
However, curmudgeon that I am, I shall never forgive that dumb little haberdasher for sacking MacArthur, who was also dead right about the Commies. One small nuke in China, and this would have been a different ... and better .... world from 1951 forward. That silly little bastard who was too stupid to realize that he was surrounded by genuine Soviet Agents, set the stage for our debacle in VietnNam.
Yo, meathead, time to change friends.
I don’t know much about the history of WWII,
No library in your town? No Google on your computer? Get with the program, mon agent provocateur.
The Technical name for this is:
FYI: Purges of the Soviet Army officer corps began well BEFORE the war, but continued through it.
If Patton lived today, he would surely puke seeing U.S. troops marching on Red Square to honor Stalin and his Kremlin henchmen.
The map of GULag shows the real achievement of the Soviet Union war effort, "something to commemorate" for US delegation and troops on May 9,2010.
America was always the only hope of the world that Soviet Union with its communist remnants will once vanish from the face of the planet, once and for all. This will be the biggest possible gift for those millions of NKVD victims, shipped and tormented to death in white snow of Siberia.
Thanks, so much for your “enlightening” replies. I’m sure you’re a delight to the less informed of your acquaintance. I obviously learned a lot more from reading other FReepers’ posts on this thread willing to share their knowledge of the era than from your sarcastic, whiny reply.
There were later purges. Stalin was always up for a good purge.
Thank you for your source, magslinger. I also found that one, among others. I find it more interesting to read what real people know first, then research if what they say doesn’t make sense or answer my questions about the subject.
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