40th anniversary

[dresden8]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ht39rriiXzQtZFQI4c01EQS86XbAD8VE23S80

As a foreigner I'd be interested to hear your views on this. Can America hold itself up as the world's moral compass?

 

[wjkuleck]

Frankly, I don't see the connection. The acts of individuals in the fog of war is to be considered a national policy, or reflective of the beliefs of the population at large?

I don't think so.

Further, the question is a syllogism. America, and Americans, don't consider themselves "the moral compass for the world at large." As a Nation we do our best to muddle through.

The record is pretty good, though. We defeated Germany in 1918, and gave France back to France (and made Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, et. al., possible). In WWII, we conquered Italy, and gave it to the Italians. We conquered Germany, and gave it to the Germans. We conquered Japan, and gave it to the Japanese. We defended Korea, and saved half of it from becoming Kim Il Sung's personal playground. We defeated the Communists of North Vietnam, and gave Vietnam to the Vietnamese. Alas, the "moral cowards" in the US Congress in 1975 refused the means to help the Vietnamese again repel (as they did in 1972) invading armies from the North.

America has given much of its blood and treasure; as one commentator put it, the only ground we ask for is enough to bury our dead.

Respectfully,

Walt

 

[Redworm]

America, and Americans, don't consider themselves "the moral compass for the world at large."

Really??!? Maybe I just spend too much time in this forum. I think I do.

The record is pretty good, though. We defeated Germany in 1918, and gave France back to France (and made Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, et. al., possible). In WWII, we conquered Italy, and gave it to the Italians. We conquered Germany, and gave it to the Germans. We conquered Japan, and gave it to the Japanese. We defended Korea, and saved half of it from becoming Kim Il Sung's personal playground. We defeated the Communists of North Vietnam, and gave Vietnam to the Vietnamese. Alas, the "moral cowards" in the US Congress in 1975 refused the means to help the Vietnamese again repel (as they did in 1972) invading armies from the North.

Yeah not exactly. We helped defeat Germany in 1918, we helped the French take back their country, we helped conquer Germany and Italy, we helped conquer Japan, we helped Korea defend itself and we didn't really do much good in Vietnam at all.

In every case you mentioned our troops were of great assistance to the fight but in none of them were they accomplished solely by American forces. While I agree that WW2 would have been lost without us it also would have been lost without the British, the French resistance, the Russians, Chinese and Australians.

 

[rwilson452]

If you were to survey the average, "Joe Sixpack", I think you would find they don't want to be the moral compass of the world. They don't want to be the worlds policeman either. The trouble is we don't see anyone else stepping up to the plate to do the job. IMNSHO I see most nations of the world behaving like spoiled children or bullies. There are far too many countries in which graft and corruption are thought of as normal.