On Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:29:51 GMT, Robert Redelmeier
<redelm@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>Alternatively, the US might be considered to have repaid its'
>debt to France by [late] involvent in WW1. So well repaid
>it allowed France to achieve a truly Pyrrhic victory.
>
>
>-- Robert
Yeah, 1918.
And before that, some smaller times - like cleaning up the
Mediterranean from Arab pirates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Barbary_War
And then in 1944 (arguably - it's possible to say Stalin already was
winning regardless of Allies' involvement).
And then, beyond any arguments, 1945. Only the presence in Europe of
US Army - and especially USAF, the dreaded Flying Fortresses capable
of carrying just-invented nukes - made Stalin stop his tanks at Elbe
River, even though there were plans to go beyond - to Paris and Rome
where Maurice Thorez and Palmiro Togliatti were waiting, ready to form
"People's" governments. All the way to Madrid, Lisbon, and London.
Zhukov - and he knew a thing or two about winning battles - insisted
that the Soviets were capable of winning it all, but Stalin decided
otherwise.
And then, how many times during the Cold War? What the Soviets were
capable off they've shown in 1967 by "pacifying" the Chechs in a
matter of hours. If not for the US, la France would've become just
one of Soviet republics. And all the others comprising the EU now -
the ones that were not already the Soviet satellites like now
oh-so-independent Poland.
And then in 1991. If not for daddy Bush confronting Iraq over Quwait,
you Europeans would've tasted $150 oil much sooner. Well, admittedly
Bush cared about the prices at Main St. gas stations first and
foremost, but still... Too bad he didn't finish the job back then,
and Bush Jr. really messed up doing it...
Anyway, the debt was repaid with interest, many times over.
NNN
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