Comments on: A piece of misunderstood history.

By: DanS

DanS — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 13:38:09 +0000

Germany could have marched across Britain.

With the 7th Fleet destroyed at Pearl, Japan could have owned the US West Coast.

…If they only knew…

Satellite technology put war on a higher plateau. It’s hard for high-tech students to grasp the idea of unseen ground troops, naval locations, air power.

The thought of pulling into a rest area and using the old Rand McNally to get from point A to point B, instead of an iPhone is nonexistent. Even going to the local library to do some serious research, rather than Googling and accepting the generally accurate, but often erroneous data as being “close enough,” has become a foreign idea.

We have evolved beyond the surface skirmish line, and taken war to the high altitudes, even to geosynch orbit.

…If they only knew…

Sidebar:
Seen Kirk Douglass’ “Final Countdown,” with Martin Sheen?

By: FrankC

FrankC — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 03:04:45 +0000

I have read this argument and I agree but I fear that Neville is still doomed to be the face of appeasement. There are just too few fans of revised/revisited history

By: ER

ER — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 02:49:06 +0000

What you are saying is logically consistent with the facts, but is it actually true? Do we have any testimony from Chamberlain (say a diary or correspondence from that time, or a memorandum, or even a memoir), to indicate that is what happened and why? Do we even know if he ever even claimed that is what happened? Are there any other witnesses, any credible testimony? (Claiming something don’t necessarily make it so. You could just be covering your ass!)

Similar claims have been made about Stalin’s decision to enter into a non-aggression pact with Hitler, that he did so in order to gain time and use Poland as a buffer between the USSR and the Reich. That may be true, but then again, it may just be Soviet apologists covering for the USSR’s policy and Stalin’s duplicity. The point is, unless we find forensic evidence (a document we can count on being legitimate) or hitch a ride on the wayback machine and interview the participants directly, we will never know. Even if the actions of Chamberlain and Stalin are shrewd statesmanship, (as opposed to ineptness, treachery or even cowardice), it is unlikely they left any evidence of it lying around.

Did Roosevelt know about Pearl Harbor ahead of time? Did Truman really know the Japanese were about to surrender when he ordered the Bomb? Did Nixon order the Watergate break-in? Did Reagan make a secret deal with the Iranians to delay the hostage release until after the 1980 election? Did he really know about Iran-Contra? Did Dubya really know there were no WMDs in Iraq?

Nobody knows, and nobody ever will, because some things are never typed up on Oval Office stationary. Even if somebody who knew did spill the beans down the line, who would believe him if the other principals involved were determined to keep things covered up?

That’s why we have historians, and conspiracy theorists.