On Tue, 1 Oct 2002, Hakan Falk wrote:
> >If Germany had large oil reserves, then back in 1941 would you have been
> >saying that we shouldn't get involved militarily in what was going on in
> >Europe, because our motivation must be based strictly on oil, since there
> >is oil there?
>
> You said so also and it was a courageous president who helped Europe,
> behind the back of the congress and senate. Not until Japan attacked you
> because of ? (yes oil), you got involved in the second world war. It might
We were involved before then, but not with our own personnel. We had
already sent large amounts of weapons to Great Britain (including 50
destroyer battleships), in exchange for letting us lease military bases
to set up military outposts.
> also
> be a surprise to you that Soviet lost 100 on every allied soldier killed and
Yup, that was unfortunate. Of course, that number (I think the Soviet
Union lost 25 million people roughly) also includes a very large number of
non-military personnel. And, it should be added that initially the Soviet
Union had signed an agreement with Germany to be partially on their side,
when the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on September 17, 1939.
Germany then turned on the Soviets, and attacked them about 18 months
later.
> that US contributed with 10% of the allied forces. But after the war my
> generation
> benefited from great entertainment and a fantastic time, we enjoyed very much
> all the war movies that showed US single handed winning the second world
> war in Europe.
Hollywood producers do not represent the sentiment of the American public.
They make their living by either making stories up, or glorifying
("improving upon") historical occurrences. I'd say that without the help
of the US, it is not unlikely to believe that today much of Europe would
be called "Germany" and be covered by flags with swastikas. However, that
is not the same as saying that we single-handedly won the war - rather
that we played a role that was integral in defetaing the axis powers (both
in terms of materials - oil, weapons, etc., as well as in military
personnel). Our naval and air forces made a huge impact.
The UN Secutiry Council was created to make sure that such a thing
never occurs again, when a tyrant is allowed to invade and conquer
countries at his own whim, while other countries sit idly by thinking
"well, he hasn't invaded us yet, so we're not going to do anything". If in
1939, the US, the Soviets, Britain, and France immediately agreed to
attack Germany after Hitler sent his forces into Poland, how many millions
of lives would have been saved?
Thus, the UN Security Council NEEDS to take action when another
tyrant starts invading countries at his own whim, and killing people
within his own country that he doesn't like. We can't just sit idly by and
say "well, he hasn't directly invaded our territory yet, so we're not
going to do anything". Unless we learn the errors of our past, we are
doomed to repeat them.
The UN should model its actions on the policies of Winston
Chirchill and FDR - in particular, FDR's "Four Freedoms Speech", and
acting together to create such a world (i.e. his speech to congress on
January 6, 1941 calling for congress to act to help establish a world
founded on freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom
from want, and freedom from fear.
But we're veering a bit off topic now. :)
Mike
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