67 years ago today

[billvon 3,132]

>not only did Germany escape crippling reparations the second
>time around, but the winners footed the bill instead....

The US has figured out a way to not pay for our current wars. We just borrow the money.

[shropshire 0]

I agree.... not that wars (in general) are anything to be proud of.... there will always be incidents on all sides that should have been avoided (Dresden is a prime example).

Maybe history has helped us to view WW2 with rose coloured specs too, but out floks did seem to pull together for a spell.

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[micro 0]

Quote

My father fought in WW2, and he regularly says that while he's proud of how the US (his perspective) mobilized and fought in the war, he's even prouder of how the victors then turned around and helped the losers in the war.

Not a bad thing to keep in mind.

Wendy W.

Did you see that thread I started the other day about the restored DC-4 that flew over my house? It was one that actually flew in the Berlin Airlift. Gave me goosebumps watching it lumber through the sky.

thread here --> http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2415311;search_string=rare%20aircraft%20sighting;#2415311

I miss Lee.
And JP.
And Chris. And...

[miked10270 0]

Quote

Amazingly, we (UK) are still paying for the 2nd World War (actually, our last Lend Lease payment is due at the back end of this year)....

Not quite... There's still thirty-some years to run on the leases on US bases in Britain. After 2044, we can renegotiate the lease for them (or evict).

In effect, WWII cost Britain all it's wealth and it's empire. Still - money well spent.

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[crwtom 0]

Quote

And now here we are again, with aggressive dictators in N. Korea and Iran, threatening to go nuclear. And all the liberals can think to do is more appeasement.

not only the liberals - the current admin all high on diplomacy and
making concessions.

Predictably so - because there hardly any other choice (in absence
of an event bigger than 9/11)

The Iraq War has drained anything would need for any other larger
military interventions - any resources from troops to machinery,
international credibility, domestic support, budgets, etc.

With the Iraq experiment the current admin has effectively
castrated the US's ability to threaten with military intervention.

You can bet that this (at least perceived) weakness is one of the
major reasons that emboldened Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong to
engage in all the aggressive and uncompromising stances and
rethoric lately.

Cheers, T

*******************************************************************
Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true