The American Way?
POSTED BY: Magonsdaughter
UPDATED: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 22:35
VIEWED: 5447
PAGE 3 of 4
Ssshhhhh, Brenda. I'm not sure that Rap realises that there were other nationalities in the Allies, don't destroy his fairytale.
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WE know -- and some of us believe in -- the Hollywood version of History.
Wherein the Yanks save the Day again & again & ...
But, you may well ask, where were the Yanks at the Battle of Thermopylae? 
... oooOO}{OOooo ...
Part of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.
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Magon's, I wanted to reply to this specifically. I agree with you. Historically, the Soviets won WWII. The US presence mattered hardly at all.
But I also wanted to point something out about an earlier post. It's claimed that because the US militarily 'won' WWII (a questionable claim, but that aside ...), it made the world a better, more peaceful place.
What made the world a peaceful place was in fact the Marshall Plan for Europe and General Douglas MacArthur's reconstruction of Japan afterwards. Simple conquest - especially with punitive constraints, lead to more war, for example, when WWI segued into WWII.
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Yeah..... right. I can hear the Star Spangled Banner playing on your heart strings from here.
Did you know that the biggest battles of WW2 were fought on the Eastern Front, with far greater casualities suffered by Soviets, which dwarfed even German casualties. The ferocity and horrific nature of Eastern front battles and civilian deaths makes the western front, where the US was involved, look like a kid's playground stoush. And in fact, the outcome of the Eastern front battles determined the outcome of the war and it's unlikely that the US involvement would have determined a different outcome if not for what happened between the Soviets and the Nazis, and definitely not if they had still been allied.
People, especially Americans, always use WW2 as a good example of military action, and I suppose if you lived in some parts of the world, it was a tremendous outcome. Probably not so great for those living in the Eastern bloc, or the Middle East and North Africa, which continued in turmoil and military conflict, some places to this day.
The reality throughout history of military force is that it leaves countries and civilians in turmoil and despair, while being very advantageous for the victors, especially economically.
If you look at 20th century history, it's probably wiser to think of the two 'great wars' as one war with a hiatus, because if there had been no WW1, a stupid senseless conflict and no Treaty of Versailles, a punative, wicked treaty, there would have been no nazis, no hitler in power and no ww2.
War is usually stupid and avoidable. It's just that people, stupid people, think of violence as a solution, when it rarely is.
SAGAN: We are releasing vast quantities of carbon dioxide, increasing the greenhouse effect. It may not take much to destabilize the Earth's climate, to convert this heaven, our only home in the cosmos, into a kind of hell.
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Totally agree with you, Ikiki.
And in fact, post ww2 was anything but peaceful if you look at all the conflict, revolution and wars that occured immediately afterwards. Plus the soviets had to endure another 15 years of Stalinism, so it weren't no picnic in that part of Europe.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Here's a thought, the world aint like a western and John Wayne isn't going to ride over the horizon.
Violence begets violence. self defence, or defence is too often used as an excuse, particularly accordinly to US laws.
Hopefully countries can learn to choose a more enlightened approach to conflict.
Only it was like a John Wayne Western, and that's exactly what the US did, during WW2. Riding in from the West, to save the day and beat back NAZI Germany ( and then Japan ) with violence that ended violence.
EXCUSE ME! The Yanks couldn't hold any of the beaches they landed on during DDAY. You want to know which soldiers did. CANADIANS. We also got the farthest inland on that day too. So leave the John Wayne bunk in your locker about WW2.
Are you trying to say that Canadians exercised violence? In defense of the occupied peoples of Yurp?
That's just crazy talk.
Are you evil?
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:Quote:
Originally posted by Magonsdaughter:
Here's a thought, the world aint like a western and John Wayne isn't going to ride over the horizon.
Violence begets violence. self defence, or defence is too often used as an excuse, particularly accordinly to US laws.
Hopefully countries can learn to choose a more enlightened approach to conflict.
Only it was like a John Wayne Western, and that's exactly what the US did, during WW2. Riding in from the West, to save the day and beat back NAZI Germany ( and then Japan ) with violence that ended violence.
EXCUSE ME! The Yanks couldn't hold any of the beaches they landed on during DDAY. You want to know which soldiers did. CANADIANS. We also got the farthest inland on that day too. So leave the John Wayne bunk in your locker about WW2.
Are you trying to say that Canadians exercised violence? In defense of the occupied peoples of Yurp?
That's just crazy talk.
Are you evil?
That is exactly what I am saying. That's where we gained part of our reputation for helping others. Canada was instrumental in liberating Holland from the Nazis.
It ain't crazy talk.
No. It was a just cause. 'sides, when Hitler was finished with Europe, he would have set his sights on North America.
But but but. Canadians. Violence. In the same sentence. Aren't you supposed to meet in the middle?
Could you be thrown in jail for claiming Canadians can exercise violence?
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
EXCUSE ME! The Yanks couldn't hold any of the beaches they landed on during DDAY. You want to know which soldiers did. CANADIANS. We also got the farthest inland on that day too. So leave the John Wayne bunk in your locker about WW2.
Are you trying to say that Canadians exercised violence? In defense of the occupied peoples of Yurp?
That's just crazy talk.
Are you evil?
That is exactly what I am saying. That's where we gained part of our reputation for helping others. Canada was instrumental in liberating Holland from the Nazis.
It ain't crazy talk.
No. It was a just cause. 'sides, when Hitler was finished with Europe, he would have set his sights on North America.
But but but. Canadians. Violence. In the same sentence. Aren't you supposed to meet in the middle?
Could you be thrown in jail for claiming Canadians can exercise violence?
We do meet in the middle which is why Canada has had peacekeepers on the island of Cyprus since 1964. To keep both sides from destroying the island.
No, I can't.
I really, really do hope that your sarcasm detector has been working lately.
It is hard for me to fun Canadians when my favorite films include Canadian Bacon, and shows include Due South. One of my fave friends in the Marine Corps was from Summerland, BC.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:Quote:
Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
EXCUSE ME! The Yanks couldn't hold any of the beaches they landed on during DDAY. You want to know which soldiers did. CANADIANS. We also got the farthest inland on that day too. So leave the John Wayne bunk in your locker about WW2.
Are you trying to say that Canadians exercised violence? In defense of the occupied peoples of Yurp?
That's just crazy talk.
Are you evil?
That is exactly what I am saying. That's where we gained part of our reputation for helping others. Canada was instrumental in liberating Holland from the Nazis.
It ain't crazy talk.
No. It was a just cause. 'sides, when Hitler was finished with Europe, he would have set his sights on North America.
But but but. Canadians. Violence. In the same sentence. Aren't you supposed to meet in the middle?
Could you be thrown in jail for claiming Canadians can exercise violence?
We do meet in the middle which is why Canada has had peacekeepers on the island of Cyprus since 1964. To keep both sides from destroying the island.
No, I can't.
I really, really do hope that your sarcasm detector has been working lately.
It is hard for me to fun Canadians when my favorite films include Canadian Bacon, and shows include Due South. One of my fave friends in the Marine Corps was from Summerland, BC.
Don't worry Jewel it is. :) Loved, loved Due South. Never seen Canadian Bacon but heard of it. I tried watching Strange Brew but couldn't get into it though I love the MacKenzie Brothers. *L* Never been to Summerland but heard its pretty there.
Due South was after Canadian Bacon, some say inspired by it. If you liked DS, you should love CB. I own both collections - never saw the final season of DS until I got the DVDs.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Brenda:
You could be right Magon. I just get a little riled up when I hear Americans taking credit for everything in WWI and WW2.
Not so much WW1, but spare me the 'Oh Canada' stuff for D Day. That was mostly Brits and USA troops that carried the load. US had more than 3x's as many forces as Canada.
Thanks for the help, though.
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General says he warned that Afghanistan would get ‘very bad, very fast’
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2024/05/20/general-say
s-he-warned-that-afghanistan-would-get-very-bad-very-fast/73767932007/
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