Nuclear arms summit...

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Hero999 said:
The US has propped up bad governments in the past because they were anti-Communist, e.g. South Vietnam where the US actually supressed democracy due to the fear of a Communist victory and they supported Chiang Kai-shek's white terror in Taiwan.
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The next time V2 rockets get lobbed into London, don't come calling on us!
 
My recollection is that the British won the Battle of Britian in 1940 well before Pear Harbour. The V2s were not used until 1944.
 
ljcox said:
My recollection is that the British won the Battle of Britian in 1940 well before Pear Harbour. The V2s were not used until 1944.
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Yes, the Americans were very late entering WWII - but they came eventually, luckily the Canadians and Australians weren't so slow.
 
HiTech said:
The next time V2 rockets get lobbed into London, don't come calling on us!
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What do you mean?

What's that got to do with my comment about propping up dictatorships because they were anti-communist?

So you think that the Vietnam war and supporting the Taiwanese white terror actually averted nuclear disaster?

Stopping Communism was pointless and was of no benefit to the rest of the world.

The whole idea that more Communist governments meant more Russian allies was flawed, for example China and Yugoslavia were both Communist countries but were not friends of the SU.

The idea that the US has supported human rights is laughable, it's record is hardly an example to the rest of the world: slavery, McCarthyism , torture, yes the US know all about human rights abuses.

ljcox said:
My recollection is that the British won the Battle of Britian in 1940 well before Pear Harbour. The V2s were not used until 1944.
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Damn US propaganda!
 
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I wouldn't be comparing Hitler or the first gulf war with the second gulf war. World War II as well as the first gulf war were both committed to by many nations. The second gulf war was almost solely the US. There were a few coalition troops, but they were quickly recalled after no WMDs were found.

Go back and look at many of the US's "police actions" and you will find many striking similarities. The most common, of course, is we did it without global support from the other nations on earth.

Also, and I have to say it because it bugs me so much, there is a HUGE difference between supporting an administrations decision to enter into war, vs supporting the troops that are in the war. Veterans should NEVER confuse that.
 
ljcox said:
My recollection is that the British won the Battle of Britian in 1940 well before Pear Harbour. The V2s were not used until 1944.
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With isolationist having strong support after WWI, Roosevelt fought an uphill battle to aid Europe. The Neutrality act of 1939 allowed arms and supplies to the European allies. The Battle of Britain occurred in 1940 after the bitter defeat at Dunkirk. That same year, Roosevelt signed the Burke-Wadsworth act, the first ever peacetime military draft in U.S. history. Congress approved $37 billion on military spending. America was preparing for war.

By 1941, the cost of war on Britain grew heavy and on Mar 11, the Lend-Lease Act was passed to aid Europe and China. Americas neutrality was clearly over.

With development of the Victory Program America was poised to wage war on two fronts.

I think the invasion of Pearl Harbor only hastened Americas entrance into the war.
 
Nigel Goodwin said:
Yes, the Americans were very late entering WWII - but they came eventually, luckily the Canadians and Australians weren't so slow.
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The Australians pretty much pulled from Europe after their entrance into the Pacific war campaign as that was a direct threat to Australia. Japan intended to invade Australia.
 
I don't expect anyone to like Americans, ya either do or don't. But some respect should be given to the fallen in places like Normandy.



**broken link removed**


**broken link removed**
 
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Mikebits said:
The Australians pretty much pulled from Europe after their entrance into the Pacific war campaign as that was a direct threat to Australia. Japan intended to invade Australia.
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Yes, when the Japs attacked SE Asia & Pearl Harbour, Australia had the bulk of its army in the Middle East fighting the Italians, Germans & Vichy French.

So only 2 battalions were available to resist the Japs in New Guinea. So the battle of the Kokoda track was a nightmare for them. 2000 versus about 500 are not good odds.

Only their determination, the thickness of the jungle and the terrain (the track crosses numerous mountain ranges) stopped the Japs eventually.
 
Mikebits said:
I don't expect anyone to like Americans, ya either do or don't. But some respect should be given to the fallen in places like Normandy.
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I don’t dislike Americans; in fact, I have US friends & relatives.

My concern is for historic accuracy.

Britain stood alone (except for the Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, etc.) in 1939 ~ 42.

However, the US helped them with supplies of food & materials.

However, it is unlikely that Britain could have invaded Europe without the US and Hitler’s huge mistake of invading the USSR.

As for war dead, I certainly respect the US sacrifices.

It may be of interest to know that there is a huge number of Australians buried in France & Belgium, mainly from WW1.

Australia had the greatest number, per capita, of all the combatants.

We had about 60 000 killed from a population of about 4.5 Million.

In WW2, it was about 50 000.
 
The last sentence is not entirely true.

The Australian forces were in Iraq until recently and they are still in Afghanistan.
 
ljcox said:
The last sentence is not entirely true.

The Australian forces were in Iraq until recently and they are still in Afghanistan.
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Same with the UK troops, one of the teachers (Sarah) where my wife works has twin brothers, just the other year one was in Iraq, and one in Afganistan - I'm not sure if they still are or not?.

Sarah got married the other year, in Las Vegas - which she would recommend highly. Her brothers were allowed in the casino for the ceremony, but had to leave afterwards as they weren't 21 - they also weren't allowed to drink alcohol in Las Vegas. So they put their uniforms on, along with their campaign medals - and found the ladies of Las Vegas very keen on UK uniforms
 
Indeed, the Australian force at Kokoda fought with valiance and honor. With a force of less than 80 men they battled the Japanese Army of over 500 strong to the point of munitions running out and hand to hand combat ensued. (What brave men they must have been). The Australians were forced into withdrawal as the numbers f the Imperial forces were overwhelming.

A subsequent second battle at Kokoda also resulted in defeat and a movement back to Isurava.

The small brigade of Australians now heading back to Brigade Hill were once again under attack
Despite being surrounded and greatly outnumbered the Australian regiments attacked, but were eventually forced to retreat.

Things could have gone much worse, but the Imperial army was redeployed from Guinea to Guadalcanal as this was of greater strategic importance.
 

Ahh Vegas, an adults playground. Fun, fun, fun. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...
 

That's a reasonable but brief summary of the campaign except for the last sentence.

By the time the Japs reached the ulimate extent of their advance, their supply line was very long and they were short of supplies.

In addition, the Oz regular army had arrived during the retreat from Kokoda and relieved the exhausted 38th & 51st regiments. They were initially short of supplies as they had to be either carried or dropped from the air. So they also had to do a fighting withdrawal for some distance. They then chased the Japs back across the Owen Stanley ranges fighting a series of battles on the way and the battles continued on the north coast of New Guinea.
 
Hero999 said:
What do you mean?
What's that got to do with my comment about propping up dictatorships because they were anti-communist?
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How easy we forget our allied position with each other. Britain has it's smeared past also, however as a close ally I always have high regards for your nation, despite any petty differences. The same goes for Canada and Austrailia. I would warmly welcome any of their citizens when visiting the US, just as I would hope I'd receive the same kind treatment.

The tone from some of your past postings suggests to me that you're dissatisfied with your motherland and America.
 
HiTech said:
The tone from some of your past postings suggests to me that you're dissatisfied with your motherland and America.
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Don't take it personally.

I'm just saying I don't like some of the things your government has done in the past. I can't comment on the US as a whole as I've never been there.

For the record, I don't like some of the things our government has done either, the Iraq war was one of them.
 
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Understood. And I do not agree with the quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan although I do fully support our service men/women who are following orders.
 
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