jasonw1239 wrote:
The Japan situation was another complex issue where Franklin D. Roosevelt in July of 1941 made the decision to cut off 80% of the oil supply to Japan as a message that Japanese expansion was not acceptable.
This immediately crushed their economy so it was very easy for the Japanese leadership to demonize the United States.
This is no defense of the brutal tactics used by the Japanese during the war but from their soldiers point of view most of the time they were hiding in holes in the ground waiting for artillery to rain down on them or for flamethrowers to burn them out. To the average Japanese soldier their hatred towards all things American must have been immense.
Japanese POW camps were no picnics and Canadians are reminded every Remembrance Day about how Canadian troops suffered at the hands of their Japanese captors.

bclarkie wrote:
Stalin had killed 3 times as many of his own people as Hitler had killed Jews. That part of history seems to have been forgotten sometimes.

jasonw1239 wrote:
The Russians had over 11 million civilian deaths in World War 2, Germany had over 1.5 million and Japan had 580,000. United States had 1,700 and the UK had 67,000. If you look strictly at results it seems that civilians in the "Evil" countries paid a much higher price than the "Good" countries.

Of course the leaders of countries make the ultimate decision about what direction to project their power and how they will do so. For the average citizen, even in a democracy, there is very little that they can do to influence events.

Of course in the modern era the US has become famous internationally for projecting their power through surrogates. Propping up dictators and thugs with money and weapons and dumping them when they are no longer convenient.
- Augusto Pinochet in Chile
- Contras in Central America
- Noriega in Panama
- Suharto in Indonesia with the resulting massacres in East Timor
- Marcos in the Philippines
- Saddam Hussein in his fight against Iran
- The Shah of Iran after the Mossadegh government nationalized the oil reserves
plus others...

What I am trying to say is that on a national level the concepts of good and evil is meaningless. It is merely a marketing tool used to direct the sentiments of the citizenry. Countries spend hundreds of millions of dollars on marketing to create a "brand" for their policies. Even the military recognizes the effectiveness of these techniques and has psychological warfare units working on "marketing campaigns" and ways to sell a turd as a chocolate bar.

lawrenson wrote:

jasonw1239 wrote:
"The Russians had over 11 million civilian deaths in World War 2, Germany had over 1.5 million and Japan had 580,000. United States had 1,700 and the UK had 67,000. If you look strictly at results it seems that civilians in the "Evil" countries paid a much higher price than the "Good" countries."

I hate to debunk your history, but the Russians were "good" in WWII. They were on the side of the Allies (tho they did agree not to enter WWII at first, much like the USA).

So this kind of blows your theory.

Cheers,
malc

But as whole, and specifically, in the modern era the U.S. clearly stands head and shoulders above the murderous nature of its enemies.

ashmire13 wrote:  please tell me thats tongue in cheek.. USA bailing out the rest of the world? please, no... I suspect there is a vast difference in views over usa history and actual! I guess with no oil or anything of worth (other than human life) probably explains mugabe being left alone???

lawrenson wrote:No, Hamas is not justified in attacking Israel.

However, how many ppl have died from these rocket attacks in the last 6 months? 3 or 4?  Yet you claim this justifies killing 1100 people

And now Israel is acting like a grown man with a baseball bat attacking a 5 year old armed with a fork.

The cynical timing also points to how culpable they are - over Christmas, and before Obama gets sworn in.

I'm sorry, but the whole American/Israeli love affair is beyond me.

Cheers,
malc

lawrenson wrote:

jasonw1239 wrote:
"The Russians had over 11 million civilian deaths in World War 2, Germany had over 1.5 million and Japan had 580,000. United States had 1,700 and the UK had 67,000. If you look strictly at results it seems that civilians in the "Evil" countries paid a much higher price than the "Good" countries."

I hate to debunk your history, but the Russians were "good" in WWII. They were on the side of the Allies (tho they did agree not to enter WWII at first, much like the USA).

So this kind of blows your theory.

Cheers,
malc