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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Win Smith who wrote (264054)	11/11/2014 4:37:03 PM
From: cnyndwllr	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 540825

Win, I agree. I think our "historical" account of the war minimizes the Russian effect. After attacking Russia Germany figuratively fought the war against the British and Americans with one hand tied behind it's back, and the dominant hand at that. On the Russian front they had the numerical majority of their land forces engaged in a bitter war they had to fight on the end of a long and unreliable supply line. I wonder how many German soldiers ended up dying because they froze to death or died of no medical care and starvation related diseases? But they fought on that front ferociously and kept us at bay in the western front by digging in on the beaches, using the oceans as a barrier and utilizing, while they had it, air power and sea power until we'd fought our way into Sicily, Italy, and then deeper into Europe. The fact that they could do so effectively for so long was a testament to their military might. The fact that after we'd landed in France and fought our way through Italy they were able to fight on the eastern front and yet still make us pay a bloody price for ever foot of real estate we gained was a testament to the single minded "patriotism" and toughness of the German people. The German people dying in that then-doomed effort were majestic fools, but fools nonetheless. On a side note, that lemming into the sea effect is one of the reasons that whenever I hear anyone talk about "patriotism" some part of me sounds an alarm. The other day I heard Cruz say that although Romney was a "patriot" he typified all the Republicans who'd lost the presidential elections. I wonder how many people cringed at his insinuation that the litmus test was patriotism and that there were "patriots" and not-patriots in politics? What an ass. Its a dangerous game they're playing when they stir that pot. Ed PS, the statement in the Wikipedia that: "The distinctly brutal nature of warfare on the Eastern Front was exemplified by an often willful disregard for human life by both sides. It was also reflected in the ideological premise for the war, which also saw a momentous clash between two directly opposed ideologies." Is BS. The brutality of any slice of a war has little to do with "ideological premises." It has everything to do with the culture of the people fighting it, the desperation of the fight and the number of them getting killed and maimed. Over time any specific war will become more and more brutal.