re: be on alert!!! grant
thank you Olive , you are true to your word, that was very simple.
I wasnt aware there was a tanker called the Condeleeza Rice, well waddya know. But then , I'm sure you are kept well informed about this stuff as you trawl the GreenLeft and Socialist Action sites.
Firstly you conveniently left out the reference to war graves in terms of territory gained. A veery profound point i thought.!
The US persued an "isolationist" line in the 30's and early 40's as it did in the First W war. In fact they were so isolationist, their army was smaller than a dump like Romania's at the time.
Roosevelt wanted to join Britain and the Commonwealth in its hour of need but was restricted by the "pacifists isolationist" policies of the bleeding hearts, ..you know the type. If we keep our head down , maybe they wont see us.!! Doesnt this sound so familiar:
Charles Lindbergh, the famous aviator, provided Americans with a portrait of the European war that differed substantially from the one conceived by the Roosevelt administration and by so-called interventionists in the United States. He did not see the conflict as basically a war for democracy or morality. He was skeptical of the ideology and moral righteousness of the British and French. He conceived of morality in international affairs as relative to time, place, circumstances, and power. His approach was, in effect, more understanding of the Germans (without approving of what they did) and more skeptical of the Allies than the conventional view in the United States. Lindbergh saw a divided responsibility for the origins of the European war, rather than an assignment of the total blame to Hitler, Nazi Germany, and the Axis states. He did not view Germany, Britian, and France as implacable foes with irreconcilable differences that could be resolved only by war; he saw them all as parts of Western civilization. And he conceived of the European war as a fratricdal struggle (like the wars between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece) that could destroy Western civilization. Conceptions of race were conspicuous in his analyses, as were his concerns about the challenge of Asiatic hordes to the survival of Western civilization.
to their eternal credit, there were some , namely the NRA who donated hunting rifles to the British in a futile effort to help them repel the Nazis. In their infinite wisdom , the British government had previously followed a regimen of gun control.....doesnt it sound oh so familiar.
Members of the 'America First' party held a rally on the 28th of April, 1941, in Chicago. In the speeches, mention of Winston Churchill's name drew boos from the 10,000 person audience. A speech by Colonel Charles Lindbergh, the respected US isolationist, was interupted by applause when he said that England was in a desperate situation, her shipping losses serious, 'her cities devastated by bombs'. Two months later, the city council of Charlotte, NC, changed the name of Lindbergh Drive to Avon Terrace. Lindbergh was suspected of being a nazi sympathiser.
The Lend Lease program was the only way around the "isolationist policy" for Roosevelt, in an attempt to bolster the Allied forces to stand against Hitler. "Although President Roosevelt has declared American neutrality in the war in Europe, a Neutrality Act was signed to allow the US to send arms and other aid to Britain and France. Contrary to widespread isolationist sentiment, President Roosevelt recommended a "Land-Lease" program that would provide U.S. aid to the Allies.
Still not at war, Roosevelt issued orders that all German and Italian ships found in US waters were to be attacked........(are you getting the picture , Olive?)
Of course the rest is history, the Japs attacked Pearl Harbour, and perhaps the dumbest thing Hitler ever did apart from attacking Russia was to declare War on The US.
So , to sum it up, the isolationists, pacifists, non interventionists were wrong ..again. Al they did was forestall the inevitable and give the Axis more time and encouragement to build more U boats tanks, planes and recruit Ersatz troops from the occupied countries.
Maybe If the interventionists had had the whip hand ,the US may have joined the war earlier, and kicked hitler in the head, Mussolini probably wouldnt have joined the merry band and the Japs, with no european allies, may have just pulled out of China like they were told to do.
Hence no World War, just a localised European conflict to "remove Adolph Hitlers weapons of mass destruction.""...........How does the saying go??.."Those who forget history????????
Pacifists.....Useful idiots....their very important role just keeps coming up doesnt it? (for the other side i mean)
History may also explain why the US no longer plays the isolationist role in world affairs....the turning a blind eye policy when the signals are there early will more than likely take out an eye and half your head later if not dealt with pronto.
As for your industrialist argument ...hey thats business, the French sell Saddam missiles, the Russians , tanks and aircraft, the Germans sell nuclear technology to Iran, Pig Iron Bob sold pig iron to the Japs, which they fired back at us later.. and not to forget the neutral Swiss were making a squillion as the Nazi bankers.
So Ollie, It may not be right , but if you trade this market , you'd have to be pretty gullible after seeing what happens here to think its isolated to Oz.
You just better hope the "global scout" doesnt get disheartened and take his bat and ball and go home ., because the next one you see holding a baseball bat , " might be someone wanting to use your head for a ball"..
