US prisoners claim Roosevelt left them in Philippines deliberately

scotsman.com ^ | Tue 30 Jul 2002 | David Cox

[blam]

Roosevelt was a Democrat, he'd never leave the children behind.

[Red Jones]

bump

[Pining_4_TX]

Looks like P.J. O'Rourke was right. FDR was rolled up the access ramp to the gates of hell.

[haole]

Oh, you would not think he would sacrifice over 2,000 Americans at Pearl harbor would U? Nahhh.....

[wretchard]

I can understand this woman's resentment, but her suit is better directed against the politicians who negotiated the Naval Holiday Treaty of 1925. That treaty was consumated at the behest of Great Britain, who, impoverished by the World War 1 could build no new ships. The solution was to freeze the status quo. The US junked the superdreadnoughts building in the yads and imposed a moratorium on the fortification of the Philippine Islands.

Faced with the facts that it could neither defend nor succor the islands given the restrictions, te Navy actually wanted to withdraw all substantial Army garrisons from the Phililppines (see War Plan Orange). In any scenario, it could only be recovered two to three years after hostilities had commenced.

Leonard Wood and other Army men with ties to the Philippines refused to withdraw the garrisons. In hindsight, the Navy proved right, and the Philippines was the scene of the largest surrender of US forces in history, though not in shame.

[onedoug]

"...administration deliberately used them as a tool...."

Heck, I obviously missed out on being a movie star for the year I was used a tool of an abandoned US foreign policy in Vietnam. Maybe I oughtta find me a lefty lawer, too.

[gcruse]

 
Transcripts of those conversations were ordered
to be sealed indefinitely by President Harry Truman,

When a 'free country,' 'under God', finds it
necessary to do what Truman did, alarms
should go off (come on?) and stay on, indefinitely.

[Mike Darancette]

Leonard Wood and other Army men with ties to the Philippines refused to withdraw the garrisons.

Churchill managed to get the troops off the Beaches of Dunkirk - Nuff Said.

[blam]

"Churchill managed to get the troops off the Beaches of Dunkirk - Nuff Said."

Churchill had estimated that he could rescue 40,000. The tenacity of the English people, in everything but a bath tub, rescued 340,000. Many were French troops.

[Stevieboy]

This sort of thing goes on all the time, and has so throughout all of history, on small and large scales. Politics, mandates, security and re-election concerns are all thrown into a pot and people of power simply get to choose how they dish it out.

The world is in desperate need of something...

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

The world is in desperate need of something

HOW BOUT CHRIST? .....I think its in dire need of him

[Stevieboy]

Couldn't hurt!

[Redbob]

Reparations! We need reparations!

[Betty Jo]

Just another reason to not trust your government!

[Almondjoy]

You're telling me you never saw this coming? OMG I can't believe people never thought this was possible. Fortunely Roosevelt had the wisdom and forsight that if he hadn't done the things he did well.. we might just be under a German flag right now.

[FairWitness]

For additional discussion, see Suit says FDR used Americans as bait to spark World War II.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

AH, but it's much more lucrative and fun to scream VICTIM and, at least try, to rake in the $$$$$. It is insane for us to judge what actions were taken 60 years ago to insure our victory in WWII.

It is true that Americans and Congress was very against getting involved in a European War, much less a war with Japan (that had not yet been declared by Japan). If we had stayed isolationists we would probably all be speaking German and worshiping Hirihito, or maybe a war on our soil just appealed to Congress more than sending money and boys to Europe.

[Betty Jo]

So, I guess you don't care what actions are taken against YOU to win the war on terrorism now?

[wingnuts'nbolts]

I made it through WWII with most of my rights intact, and that was during a democratic administration. I guess I'll be ok now, with what rights I have left. Don't see how I can stop or help except by voting, and I do that. If you're looking for a fight, look somewhere else.