“For example, after WWII, there was a coal shortage. With winter approaching available coal was routed to France, the UK, etc. Germany was slighted because it was felt that the US occupation force would have fewer problems shooting German civilians if they rioted”
Not that I don’t believe you, but how much was perception and how much reality? How likely was it that a German citizen would be shot, and how often were U.S. soldiers arrested in the aftermath? How easy will it be decades from now to warp random instances of shooting civilians, pissing on corpses, and disrespecting (or not) holy texts into a pattern of brutality? Afghans are doing that already.
I got that out of a history book about post-war Germany. We were HARD on the Germans. If we wanted a house, we commandeered it and the family went out into the street. The German economy essentially ran on cigarettes until about 1947 or 48. Dunno ‘bout shooting them, but there were some pretty broad sweeps looking for Nazi criminals.
Here is some notes from Jack D. Hunter (author of The Blue Max):
http://www.jackhunter.com/BlueMaxOTFInfo.htm
http://www.jackhunter.com/01-05-08.htm
The entirety of WWII was brutal, the Pacific more so than the European. Never think for a second that it was a “good clean war.” I don’t think that such a thing ever existed.
As for warping “random instances of shooting civilians, pissing on corpses, and disrespecting (or not) holy texts into a pattern of brutality,” the Afghans won’t have to do it, our own media will. There is no reason to care what the Afghanis think of us (we should be killing them whenever they cross us...). We need to explain to the media the difference between “First Amendment Rights” and “giving aid and comfort, treason, and subversion.”