[DoodleDawg]

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who wishes he had availed himself more fully of the opportunity to learn Spanish in high school, lo those many decades ago. He just started a website about small computers...

Mr. Konrad should stick to Spanish and small computers. His history leaves a bit to be desired.

[Noamie]

I agree with you and his take on it is rambling nonsense.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Regardless, I have long felt that American involvement in World War I was a grave mistake.

A somewhat cynical reprise of post Civil War history looks like this:

I trace American involvement in World War I to the Civil War. Slavery was a relic barbarism, and needed to be eradicated. To deny that the Civil War was about slavery is naked sophistry. But the ascendence of self-righteous glory hounds in the aftermath was not healthy for American political order.

The immediate after effect was the Spanish-American War, which got America entwined in East Asia and saddled us with Cuba and Puerto Rico, two dysfunctional polities on our borders.

Fresh off victory over the remnants of the Mighty Spanish Empire, a yearning nation’s blue-eyed pride looked for further fields of glory. Or went looking for trouble and found it in Flanders fields.

The demons unleashed came to roost (to mix a metaphor) in 1941. They were demons, they deserved to defeated, and at great cost in blood and treasure. Yet somehow, I feel the worst of this could have been avoided.

[Sans-Culotte]

Agreed.