[Grey Wolf]

{complete and total retraction of statement}

[Alpha Leader]

LOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lol:

[Levyathan]

Originally posted by Goober5000
If it weren't for us Americans, all the French would be speaking German.

If it weren't for you Americans, a lot of things would be different. Not that I'll bother listing them.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Goober5000
Bah.  If it weren't for us Americans, all the French would be speaking German.  Sacre bleu!

their would be no french, you'd be an english colony, so there .

And Greywolf, we're as anti american as anybody else. You listen to the CNN news or something? According to the news, all americans are antifrench. Stupid racist. I mean it and won't take it back. I found your comment offensive and will from now on ignore you completly.

[Setekh]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
I get annoyed at the blatant anti-Americanism in France.
We saved their asses in 2 World Wars.

Not to say that your opinion is lopsided, but don't forget how many toes America has stood on. I won't cite specific examples; but anyway, would you rather have allied with the Central Powers? Maybe they wouldn't have sunk the Lusitania.

[Blue Lion]

Ok wait, they're combating evil capitalists by.....creating their own drink, boycotting American drinks so theirs are the only ones on the market, thus making them a lot of money?

So it's not the money hungry power weilding part, it's just the American part? This guy is using Anti American sentiments to sell his drink!

The fact that people are spending millions to combat the evil "Coke Regime" is laughable.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Originally posted by Goober5000
Bah.  If it weren't for us Americans, all the French would be speaking German.  Sacre bleu!

Oh, yes. America single handedly won World War 2.

[Sesquipedalian]

Originally posted by Goober5000
Bah.  If it weren't for us Americans, all the French would be speaking German.  Sacre bleu!

Hmm, let's think about this for a minute.  German troops invade Czechoslovakia and then Poland: Britian and France declare war, America does nothing.  France falls: Britian stands alone (well, along with the Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), America buries head in sand.  Japan starts on America: the Americans finally decide to get involved.  Back in Europe, the Americans contribute part of the forces that storm Normandy, now that they've bothered to show up.

Saving Private Ryan does not present an unbiassed account.  The Americans were late, and only one party among many.  The high horse should be dismounted, thank you.

[Shrike]

This is all too precious.  

Originally posted by Sesquipedalian
Hmm, let's think about this for a minute.  German troops invade Czechoslovakia and then Poland: Britian and France declare war, America does nothing.  France falls: Britian stands alone (well, along with the Commonwealth, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc.), America buries head in sand.  Japan starts on America: the Americans finally decide to get involved.  Back in Europe, the Americans contribute part of the forces that storm Normandy, now that they've bothered to show up.

Saving Private Ryan does not present an unbiassed account.  The Americans were late, and only one party among many.  The high horse should be dismounted, thank you.

You're not quite correct in your chain of events.  America was not a combatant until Pearl Harbor, however, they were already providing plenty of lend-lease aid to Britain, which they continued to do throughout the war.  The question is how well would Britain have survived without American logistics aid.  In the Pacific, it was of course the Americans who kicked the Japanese's teeth in, nobody else could have until much later - post '45.

There's also the facet of postwar Marshal aid to consider, how badly do you think Europe would have fared after WWII if there had been no influx of American capital to help rebuild?

[Sandwich]

Just a side note here: Splinter, it's "Coca Cola", not "Coka Cola".


I love little brothers.

[vyper]

Originally posted by Shrike


There's also the facet of postwar Marshal aid to consider, how badly do you think Europe would have fared after WWII if there had been no influx of American capital to help rebuild?

Yes because the rebuilding of Germany went so well didn't it? Well I suppose that big wall was quite an achievement.

Look, America provided economic support in terms of arms for the Allies (basically only Britain at said point), yes. They did well in that respect but America did refuse to enter combat until Perl Harbour.

When the Nazi's came for the Gypsies,
I did nothing.
When the Nazi's came for the Ill,
I did nothing.
When the Nazi's came for the Jews,
I did nothing.
When the Nazi's came for me,
There was no one left, to save me.

The failure of America to enter ww2 until directly attacked was because of the mindset of "none of our boys" dying abroad. Ironically they had played right into Hitler's hands but the Japanese saved the day - he was not happy when the Japs attacked outright. It was too early. He needed Russia and Britain beaten first.

For a better explanation look at the quote in my sig. If one good man...

[Snakeseyes]

American bankers helped Hitler build his army.

[vyper]

Originally posted by Snakeseyes
American bankers helped Hitler build his army.

Actually here I have to be fair... it was Germany's failure to pay the Versailles reparations that funded Hitlers army.

[Goober5000]

There's also the theory that Roosevelt had wanted for a long time to go to war outright, but didn't have public support behind him.  So the U.S. "baited" Japan with Pearl Harbor.  (Granted, I'm not too familiar with that theory, but it's another item to toss out there.)

And as you saw with venom, the French can throw it right back at us - if it weren't for the French, America would still be an English colony.

[CP5670]

This is kind of old news actually; heard of it a month ago. As BL said though, what is really funny about this whole thing is that they claim to be fighting the big bad capitalists, and the method in which this is done is to create their own bigger and badder capitalists.

As for the rest of the thread, I do agree that the US should have joined in WW2 earlier, but for entirely different reasons; it makes a lot of sense to not bother with the problems of other nations, but it was in definitely their own interests to prevent Germany from taking over all of Europe for a number of reasons.

it was Germany's failure to pay the Versailles reparations that funded Hitlers army.

Then again, the provisions of the Versailles treaty were quite unreasonable (and were largely a product of the French, who hated the Germans after WW1). By the way, Poincare's (the French prime minister) brother was a world renowned mathematician.

[vyper]

Originally posted by CP5670


Then again, the provisions of the Versailles treaty were quite unreasonable (and were largely a product of the French, who hated the Germans after WW1). By the way, Poincare's (the French prime minister) brother was a world renowned mathematician.

On that point we agree  - Versailles was sheer bloody vindictiveness with no foresight.

Back to the main point: I like Coca Cola. I drink Diet Coke almost every day.
Equally, when I go out for a meal I often drink European beer. I like European beer.

Its not about the big bad americans taking over the world (c'mon lads it not like they could) its about an american company selling a very successful product and some idiot decides thats not fair.

[Petrarch of the VBB]

It is said that IBM supported Hitler.

I am sick to the back teeth of seeing films shwoing me how America single handedly won the war. OK, we'd have lost without them, but it doesn't mean they were the only nation against Nazism.

Also, didn't P-51s have Rolls Royce Merlins?

[Petrarch of the VBB]

Originally posted by CP5670

 it makes a lot of sense to not bother with the problems of other nations,

ahh, but one country cannot live in isolation. The american policy seemed to be (between the wars at least, yeah , I know recession, etc etc.) "Sod other countries, we are on our own, we can manage on our own, no where else exists).

Dubya still believes in this, he keeps backing out of the pollution summits, and seems not to give a toss about what america is doing to the planet.

[Shrike]

Originally posted by vyper
Yes because the rebuilding of Germany went so well didn't it? Well I suppose that big wall was quite an achievement.

Well actually, the rebuilding of German did go quite well - West Germany that is.  The Berlin Wall was erected by East Germany, and like all of the communist states they refused marshall aid.

[CP5670]

Its not about the big bad americans taking over the world (c'mon lads it not like they could) its about an american company selling a very successful product and some idiot decides thats not fair.

Now the next thing to come up will probably be another corporation marketing a similar product (something like say, Allah Cola), and then the two calling each other greedy cheaters.

ahh, but one country cannot live in isolation. The american policy seemed to be (between the wars at least, yeah , I know recession, etc etc.) "Sod other countries, we are on our own, we can manage on our own, no where else exists).

That's true to some extent, but only because of the way today's global economic system works; any problems within a major nation would quickly affect everyone else in the system. So I stand by my original point that whether to be isolationist or globalist is determined only by the economic factors; if the economies were independent, the nations would have no reason to worry about each other.

On the flip side though, you have the same people complaining about the US acting like a "world's police," where they are doing exactly the opposite thing.

Well actually, the rebuilding of German did go quite well - West Germany that is. The Berlin Wall was erected by East Germany, and like all of the communist states they refused marshall aid.

I was thinking the same thing, seeing as Germany is the biggest economy in Europe today. The East portion caught up pretty quickly too after the Wall fell.