like the “police action” in Korea
like the Tonkin Gulf resolution that circumvented Congress
Coalition of the “willing”
Iran / Contra
Iraqi “freedom”
Somalia
Its too bad Americans cant remember beyond the last month, or in the immortal words of George W.....”Fool me once....shame....shame on......shame on......YOU. Fool me twice....you cant....cant....fool me again.
Never thought Id quote W. in a prophetic fashion, but “WHOOP, There it is”
If Russia, the Ukraine, etc. didn't have massive oil reserves, they'd have no real power. They are the world's gas station outside the Middle East.
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If Russia, the Ukraine, etc. didn't have massive oil reserves, they'd have no real power. They are the world's gas station outside the Middle East.
Fun fact: Hitler wanted those oil reserves badly. It's part of the reason he turned on the Soviets. But on his way to get them, his ego undermined him. He saw Stalingrad and an opportunity to humiliate his adversary, Joseph Stalin. So he changes direction, heads to Stalingrad, and gets his ass kicked. Germany lost nearly a million men in that battle, TWICE the number of American deaths in the entirety of the war in both Europe and the Pacific.
I'm a big WW2 buff, especially Euro front...Not sure why cause I despise war and politics.
If you look back at how close Hitler was to wining even a two front war, its pretty scary
If he kept the pressure on Britain and didnt invade Russia in 41? Britain would have been forced to capitulate
If he kept up supply chain and better prepared for winter? He was on the outer suburbs of Moscow
If he didnt remove one of his armies to defend Sicily in 1943? He would have won the battle of Kursk and entrapped 5 Soviet Armies
At the end of the day it really was bad strategic decisions and the American military industrial complex that turned the tide against tyranny.
How the 1930-1940 Germans became that ideologically cancerous is a whole other thread, and lesson for humanity.
Quote: said:
I'm a big WW2 buff, especially Euro front...Not sure why cause I despise war and politics.
If you look back at how close Hitler was to wining even a two front war, its pretty scary
If he kept the pressure on Britain and didnt invade Russia in 41? Britain would have been forced to capitulate
If he kept up supply chain and better prepared for winter? He was on the outer suburbs of Moscow
If he didnt remove one of his armies to defend Sicily in 1943? He would have won the battle of Kursk and entrapped 5 Soviet Armies
At the end of the day it really was bad strategic decisions and the American military industrial complex that turned the tide against tyranny.
How the 1930-1940 Germans became that ideologically cancerous is a whole other thread, and lesson for humanity.
I think you're right that his mistakes allowed the allies to get the upper hand, and if Hitler didn't make so many of them, it would've prolonged the war for years. But I don't think he would've won. The American industrial might would've won out in the end...eventually.
The thing I keep coming back to was that his mistakes were so EGO-driven. (And, yes, I do say this acknowledging conversations we've had in recent years about the impact of stability and ego in our leaders). His ego-driving decision to go after Stalingrad, which didn't hold a lot of strategic value, is just one example among dozens.
Another is when he stopped his army from going after the British troops in Dunkirk. The bulk of the British military were stranded. Sitting ducks. And instead of continuing on, he wanted the glory of watching his Luftwaffe mow them down on the beaches. He paused and the Brits escaped. If he hadn't, the Brits would've been all but done.
![[Image: battle-of-moscow-ww2-october-1941-January-1942-001.jpg]](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pPvJoKLAmv8/T0XZHzc8PoI/AAAAAAAAIUU/A7MgJ5r66Bc/s1600/battle-of-moscow-ww2-october-1941-January-1942-001.jpg)