Originally posted by HatMan: As for WWII... Take another look at your history books. We stayed out of it. The Nazis were invading one country after another, bombing our longstanding allies, and killing people by the millions. (Big difference between making threats to attack/invade or building weapons/military within your own borders and actually attacking.) But after WWI, most Americans didn't want to get involved in another war across the ocean. Especially not with the Depression.There was a movement to pretty much close our borders and ignore the rest of the world. It wasn't until we were directly attacked at Pearl Harbor that we really got involved.
You are absolutely correct here. Americans did want to stay out of the war. Franklin Roosevelt knew this but still created ways to help our friends, such as Lend-Lease or even aiding the creation of the Flying Tigers in China. When we were attacked, we finally realized the dangers the Axis powers presented. Pearl Harbor was 1941's equivalent of September 11. It woke the population up to the fact that we couldn't stay isolated from the world. There were dangers that had to be addressed to save our way of life. The result was the invasion of Europe and nearly the invasion of Japan if it hadn't been for the timely development of the atomic bomb.
Today is the same, though this time the enemy isn't facing us with armored columns of Tiger tanks but rather suicide bombers or hidden plots to destroy a bridge. The equivalent of the Pacific theater would be the invasion of Afghanistan, a direct attack on the country that had attacked us. The invasion of Iraq would be the equivalent of the invasion of Europe. This was the elimination of a threat that had never directly attacked us.
It is amazing, isn't it, how history continues to repeat itself.
Glad you're enjoying yourself, Paul, even if you are wrong.
-- Roger
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." -- Benjamin Franklin
