Still asleep at the switch...

[Kal]

a continent that owes it very freedom to speak out and hate us to our ability to prevent communist domination post-WWII.

Typical bumper sticker RAF Alconbury circa earl;y to mid eighties:

"We fought the First World War in Europe
We fought the Second World War in Europe
And God wiling we will fight the Third World War in Europe"

Such sentiments don't exactly endear America to most Europeans.

[swatter555]

Whether it is endearing or not, it is history. All the Europeans could do is slaughter each other by the tens of millions in the first half of the 20th century. Twice the US sent soldiers to Europe in a major war, each time tens of thousands of soldiers died. I have heard a couple of people write that off as the US acting in its own interests. True, our interests were a free and stable Europe. Why that would be a negative, only a French person could figure out.

Its not that we enjoy holding it over their head, we dont. What we dont like is being called Nazis and being called the new Gestopo in the world. Thats the crap we freed them from and our boys died eradicating. Maybe the Iraq war is messed up in a major way, but we are not the evil in the world.

Oh well, Im just ranting now, Ill stop.

[Kal]

The Second World War would be the one the US didn't join until 1941 when America discovered isolationism dosnt work.


You may not enjoy holding it over Europeans heads, but I've lost count of the number of times that an American online has resorted to "Yeah, but we saved you guys butt in WWII"

This usually the point in time I point out that the Battle of Britain had been fought and won with Operation Sealion being cancelled over a year before America joined the war.

[swatter555]

I didn't mean to imply we did it ourselves, of course

[jstark47]

This usually the point in time I point out that the Battle of Britain had been fought and won with Operation Sealion being cancelled over a year before America joined the war.

I have to point out, as noble as Britain's combat performance was, by 1941 the country was economically prostrate. If the USA hadn't joined the combat effort in Dec. '41, Britain would have likely had to make peace and withdraw. The will was there, but the wherewithal wasn't.

To switch gears back to terrorists, it's interesting that 25-30 years ago this kind of thing usually had Maoist origins rather than Islamist. Maoists were another group of people quite willing to use violence to forcibly impose their world view on others. (Anyone read Bruce Bawer's book, "When Europe Slept"?) I disagree with the view that Islamist terrorism is the natural and defensible reaction of people to the cultural homogenization of their homelands. No, it is an effort to impose their value system on the rest of us, and if they die trying, according to their belief system, so much the better. Regardless of what evil other religions may have committed in other times, Islamist terrorism is the curse of our century -- there are no other religions blowing people up nowadays.

[Nalian]

To ignore any extreme fundamentalism would be woefully ignorant. Last I checked, Timothy McVey was not islamic, and he certainly did a ton of damage.

Extremists come in all colors, religions, shapes and sizes. If you start looking for just one, another will bite us all in the "O Ring" later. Suggestions to focus on just one group suggest a severe lack of understanding of the whole picture.

[younggun]

To ignore any extreme fundamentalism would be woefully ignorant. Last I checked, Timothy McVey was not islamic, and he certainly did a ton of damage.

Extremists come in all colors, religions, shapes and sizes. If you start looking for just one, another will bite us all in the "O Ring" later. Suggestions to focus on just one group suggest a severe lack of understanding of the whole picture.

+1

[younggun]

The Second World War would be the one the US didn't join until 1941 when America discovered isolationism dosnt work.


You may not enjoy holding it over Europeans heads, but I've lost count of the number of times that an American online has resorted to "Yeah, but we saved you guys butt in WWII"

This usually the point in time I point out that the Battle of Britain had been fought and won with Operation Sealion being cancelled over a year before America joined the war.

Well lets see here..... first of all the US did'nt save anyones butt in WW2... if I recall correctly WW2 was won collectivly by allied forces consisting of Britain, US, France, and of course Canada plus other countries. The Battle of Britain was the start of the war but deff didnt end the war.

[jstark47]

The Battle of Britain was the start of the war but deff didnt end the war.

The war started with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. The Battle of Britain kicked off almost a year later - the starting point is debated by military historians, but it was definitely underway by mid-August 1940.

[younggun]

my bad