Von Braun

[rich]

just my 2 pennies:

a new book called After the Reich describes the brutal, initial
occupation of Germany at the hands of the Americans and the British in
1945-46. there were many who wanted Germany to be a bunch of farmers,
with no industry, sorta like what the Germans had planned for Ukraine
and Poland under Hitler.

war makes beasts of all men

rich

On 10/11/07, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> Henry, I agree with your reasoning below.
>
> On the other front, I've been watching some of Ken Burns' "The War"
> documentary,  and found the episode which focused on the Pacific
> front, leading up to the A-bomb's being dropped on Nagasaki &
> Hiroshima to be enlightening.  Conventional battle against the
> Japanese on their own soil was devastating for the Allied Forces in
> terms of casualties.  The Japanese were dug-in, fiercely defending
> every inch, and their Air Force consisted of suicide bombers hurling
> themselves and their planes at Allied ships.  Before the A-bombs were
> dropped, everyone expected huge numbers of Allied casualties before
> the Japanese would be defeated.  As we know, even after the first bomb
> was dropped the  Emperor refused to surrender, an exhibit of their
> defiance against defeat.  The A-bombs, horrible as they were, ended
> the war immediately, but the total casualties from both bombs was far
> less than the anticipated Allied losses if the war  continued as it
> had been going.
>
> For the Greatest Generation, those A-bombs were a God-send, and they
> didn't feel guilty about their use.
>
> David Morris
>
> On 10/11/07, Henry <scuffling at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > All deaths, particularly against randomly targeted civilians, e.g. the rockets and... oh, yeah, the camps!, caused by the Nazis/Axis in support of their pure purposes of the final solution and admitted goal of a world-wide dictatorship, were too many, and are incomparable to the deaths, even thousands more than necessary,  wrought by the Americans/Allies in their however impurely purposed fight against them.  That's what I believe, and FWIW, I don't think that my readings of TRP in general, and GR in particular, lead me to believe that TRP thinks otherwise, but your mileage may vary, particularly if you are so deconstructioanal as to suggest that intent cannot be known, and is therefore irrelevant.
> >
>