I really apologize for the "Roger Bolton" gaffe. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I had corrected the mistake myself before I saw your post.
But how can you call the U.S. attacks on Nazi countries and forces during World War II a preemptive atack? Taking sides in an ongoing conflict is not preemptive. That is rushing in to help someone who needs your help. I said earlier that if you break into you neighbour's home to kill him, just so he won't be able to kill you in the future, then that is a prememptive attack. But what if you hear noises from your neighbour's house, and you realize that others have broken in there and are trying to kill your neighbour? If you yourself rush in there to defend your neighbour, you are most certainly not carrying out a preemptive attack.
What if you are taking a stroll down a street where you don't live, and you hear cries for help coming out from a house whose occupants you don't know? If you run in there to help, you are still not carrying out a preemptive attack. Because the conflict is already there and you just want to help.
That is what The United States did during World War II. They sacrificed thousands and thousands and thousands of their soldiers for their "neighbours", or rather for the people on another street, when they heard their cries for help. America heard Europe's cries for help, and America elected to help us. That was the decision that the Roosevelt administration made for us Europeans, for our sake. America under Roosevelt (and Truman) did Europe an enormous favor, and at least people of my generation have certainly not forgotten it.
But the present U.S. administration seems so incredibly different from the Roosevelt (and Truman) ones. So incredibly different.
