Montecresto
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2013
- Messages
- 24,561
- Reaction score
- 5,507
- Gender
- Undisclosed
- Political Leaning
- Undisclosed
I never knew that about Eisenhower - he sounds like a man of some principle. Well the dropping of those A-bombs has reaped a whirlwind ever since.
I do not understand what you're saying here.
Thanks for this. So was Truman ultimately the bad guy in this scenario?General Dwight D. Eisenhower: "In 1945 ... , Secretary of War Stimson visited my headquarters in Germany, [and] informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act.... During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face.'
My post was a rejection of the premise that Americans overstate their contribution to WW2.
We were not attacked by the Germans. ... Our involvement was not forced, it was voluntary.
At the end of the day, during Europe's darkest hour, of all the nations who were never attacked by Hitler, it was America who came to fight side by side with you. It wasn't the Canadians. It wasn't the Brazilians.
It wasn't the Chinese. It wasn't the Swedes or the Swiss or the nations of the Middle East. It was the Americans.
We can afford to be positive about our nations but other nations are still recovering from our atrocities and we need to keep that somewhere in our minds too, in case it happens again.
This is wrong on so many levels... we showed up in the end of WWI after the Allies had already turned the tide of the war and in WWII the British had already turned the Nazis back in Africa, their navy had stopped the German Navy ending forever any thought of invading Britain and the Russians handled the Eastern Front almost 99% on their own.
Hitler's biggest problem was biting off much more then he could chew. If he had not invaded Russia, Great Britain very well may have fallen both in Africa and at home. And it was the allies under American leadership that liberated western Europe.
A great nation? Yes... I just find it great for white men for most of its existence. Other nations had their **** together far before the USA. New Zealand, Australia, The U.K., for example.
They had their **** together, yes...but not in quite the way America has. America for instance became the economic and military power house it is despite the limited time it has existed compared to Europe. America is unique.
They had their **** together, yes...but not in quite the way America has. America for instance became the economic and military power house it is despite the limited time it has existed compared to Europe. America is unique.
I have to disagree. Even if all of those troops were in Britain, I doubt they could have stood up any better to the Nazis than they did. They may not have had those troops in the first place if they did not have the colonies. The British battles in the Pacific also tied up Japanese troops that could have been used to fight the Americans.
Then again, America always has been - for most diplomatic and military purposes - an island nation. After the War of 1812, unlike almost every other nation on the planet, we've never had an enemy next door to us that could present an existential threat to our nation.
Which is why, at first, we thought we could sit out World War 2.
That was not my intent.I'm sorry to have been unclear. If we are going to operate as the nations we love to criticise for a lack of regard for human life, then we should own it. But the US tends to advance a superior attitude of morality. The defender of democracy, rule of law, human rights and the like. The "shinning city on a hill". The fact is that the US has used its CIA to overthrow multiple governments, usually democratic left leaning governments and replacing them with right wing dictatorships. Imperialism, hegemony, and interference in the internal affairs of other nations. War crimes, well there's been plenty posted on that here already and it's not foreign to US policy. We shouldn't dismiss this as war is hell and **** happens, otherwise we loose the right to criticise others, or to prosecute others.
Thus I dislike that it appears some are singling out the USA as the crowning example of a nation being involved in acts that are questionable or outright wrong - be they military or otherwise.
Please explain why people applaud the idea that we are not great.Please explain what exactly makes a country great and how the United States exemplifies that more than every other nation.
Please explain why people applaud the idea that we are not great.
Because a little humility and introspection go a long way, especially in a country prone to blind patriotism.
We have Oliver Stone and Michael Moore for that. At this point in our history I'd prefer a little more ass kicking and less introspection.
And that is why you are very likely part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.
When you're confronted with something like ISIS ass kicking is the only solution. And I mean we need to dig up Curtis LeMay.
We are not confronted with ISIS. They're on the other side of the world. And killing them is not any solution. We've been killing terrorists for decades, and all we've gotten for our troubles is more terrorists.
Top candidates would be Switzerland or Norway .. or Japan ..However, neither have our problems with minorities and intolerance. :shock:
General Dwight D. Eisenhower: "In 1945 ... , Secretary of War Stimson visited my headquarters in Germany, [and] informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act.... During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and second because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face.'
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?