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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (86185)	8/23/2000 2:28:13 PM
From: Neocon	Respond to of 108807

Not bad at all....However, all I am arguing for is the plausibility of different scenarios. The fact that a plausible argument can be made for what happened does not obviate the fact that self- interest was not clear- cut, other strategies might have been followed, and our disapproval of the Nazis, and unwillingness to do business with them, had as much to do with the course we eventually chose as anything else. You are right, the mutual bleeding to death was not certain. It was, however, likely given the ferocity of fighting and intensity of hatred that had developed, so long as the Soviets had materiel to hold out (I said that it was premised on Lend- Lease continuing). On North Africa: there was a concern about oil, but Germany was getting its oil from southeastern Europe, and did not need the reserves in Arabia for the foreseeable future. As long as the British could prevent a decisive victory, there was no hurry. It is true that it was useful to make southern Europe vulnerable to attack, but there was not a substantial commitment of German troops to the south, and the Italians folded quickly. On invading Europe by ship: well, you are right, using England as a staging area was preferable. On the other hand, casualties were horrendous. It may be that if the bloodletting scenario worked, we would have been no worse of using ships as platforms. But the main point is this: We never sought a negotiated settlement, and in fact declared unconditional surrender as our war aim. I approve of this, but it is not what one does merely out of self- interest. For example, holding out the hope of a negotiated settlement increases the chances of a coup d'etat to get recalcitrant leaders out of the way.......