"John Yamamoto-Wilson" <johndeletethis@rarebooksinjapan.com> wrote in
message news:30agdjF2tf97qU1@uni-berlin.de...
> FreddieN wrote:
>
> > > If it weren't for Americans, China would be speaking
> > >Japanese  today.  If it weren't for Americans, the
> > > British Isles, along with all of Western Europe, would have
> > > been speaking German for a few years before speaking Russian.

> > LOL - So there are still a few fuckwits left that actually believe that?
>
> Millions of them. The same ones who thought France should be so eternally
> grateful that it should unquestioningly give the USA support in any and
all
> its military endeavours from now till Doomsday.
>
> On June 22nd, 1941, Germany (together with Rumania and Italy) turned on
the
> Soviet Union (henceforth their ally) and invaded it, losing thereby so
many
> human and economic resources that their ultimate defeat in World War II
was
> more or less guaranteed. The US was not to enter the war for another six
> months.
>
> Adam's comment about Germany potentially gaining control of the Atlantic
is
> partly true, but of course it was Japan's activities in the Pacific arena
> that finally dragged the US into the war.

Yes, but so long as Britain was capable of guarding the eastern flank there
was less er... incentive, shall we say, to get involved.
And I don't blame them for staying the hell out if it for absolutely as long
as possible to be honest.
It's just the ridiculous mythology that has evolved about the circumstances
of the time. The information - as you've just illustrated - is widely
available and clearly documented.
Ignorance of such basic historical facts in a country that arrogantly
presumes it is well-educated is just a leeeetle bit irritating.

Strangely enough there is a book just out called 'An Army At Dawn' by Rick
Atkinson.
It describes how the Americans almost single-handedly defeated Rommel in
North Africa in *1943*!
The British are relegated to mere bit players despite the fact that by 1943
they had already been fighting with Rommels crack army for over two years,
had finally turned the tables at the ferocious battle of Alamein and had won
every single battle thereafter.
I read another book by Colin Smith that covers the period described by
Atkinson under a late chapter entitled "End Game".
So with that kind of bias finding it's way into print even today I suppose
it's not really so surprising.

>As noted above, Japan had joined
> the Axis over a year previously, so war with Japan was pretty much
> synonymous with war with Germany.
>
> Many Americans today appear to be totally unaware of all of this. Their
> nationalist mythology regarding their country's history makes them as much
> of a danger as the adherents to the America = Great Satan mythology. Which
> is why it's always worth challenging such views and confronting those who
> hold them with reality.

Nah - we are just terrorist-supporting anti-American communist scum who have
been brain-washed by the French.

--
The adorable Adam Whyte-Settlar
 - destined to be forever in the minority