The youngest person held by the US in the 'name of security'

[Nick]

And you Europeans: It was all fine and good when you were the superpowers, well now it's our turn. And there's nothing you can do about it.

They have been doing something about it. So has Asia.
And you'll find that within 5 years you'll start to slip as the superpower.
'And there's nothing you can do about it'

[Surly]

Do you blame the allies for not wanting Germany to have a vast industrial base? After WWI, they tried to let Germany be an industrial, but mostly unarmed nation.

And which country allowed them that? I t most certainly wasn't France, they wanted radical steps to prevent it happening again. America stepped in, had many great ideas (they were great ideas) but then backed out leaving everyone else to deal with it. Isolationism is quite possible the worst thought out and most highly damaging (non-aggressive) policy adopted by any western nation.

Why would America and England divide France? We haven;t been at war with France since... well... the Napoleanic war I would think. And America wasn't exactly active internationally at that point

WW2 was also the last time we decisively engaged and won. You can hardly be responsible for those places where we lost (Korea and Vietnam). While we are on the subject, if you had to live in Korea, would you rather be in the north or south?

Why is it that all Americans seem to have this idea that WW2 couldn't be won without them? Russia won that war, not the US. I don't want to totally blast the US over this thought, because they were very important after the war, with rebuilding. THe economic support that was provided post-war was invaluable, no denying. But the military support the US provided was not as essential as is portrayed. In fact, many veterans of the other countries participating (mainly UK and Russia here) actively disliked the Americans cavalier attitude and resented their help.

It is only recently (G W Bush Administration) that we have made spreading democracy around the world, when necessary, an objective. GW Bush actually spoke against America as the "Worlds Policeman" before 9-11. That day, like Dec 7, woke America up. We realized that there were many in the world who wanted to kill us, and were willing to die to do it.

Not does not reflect positively on the US. No matter what Bush says about "not being the world's policeman", how the US acts is very different. Either they take the role, or they back down. Not the current status of trying to wield power over other countires as a policeman (of sorts) and then avoiding the issue when things go wrong.

And you Europeans: It was all fine and good when you were the superpowers, well now it's our turn. And there's nothing you can do about it.

They have been doing something about it. So has Asia.
And you'll find that within 5 years you'll start to slip as the superpower.
'And there's nothing you can do about it'

Yep... and it scare the sh*t out of me. Just wait until the Taiwan issue (or Chinese Taipei...) comes to a head, then we'll see who the most powerful nations are. And I guarentee that neither the US and Europe will stand up to China over it... neither of us like picking on a country as powerful as us...

[Antichrist_Online]

A comment on the fact Britain did it first:
We did it with conventional warfare -rifles, cavalry and machineguns.
You did it with nuclear threat, hightech weapons that still hit civilians and your own troops, and bombs the size of vw beatles.

A comment on the spelling: The American method of spelling is mostly what Britain was using when the Americans revolted, English has developed due to influences of European languages, American hasn't. Hence the bad spelling.

[Cookie]

A comment on the fact Britain did it first:
We did it with conventional warfare -rifles, cavalry and machineguns.
You did it with nuclear threat, hightech weapons that still hit civilians and your own troops, and bombs the size of vw beatles.

COUGH*dresden*COUGH

Not that I would ever argue an Americans side, just keeping the balance.

You should try argueing with an Argentinian about the Flalklands. in fact if you even call them the Falklands there likely to get pissed off, they call them the Malvinas.

[Antichrist_Online]

Dresden was an accident. The firestorm created by the winds was completly unpredicted and the construction of the city was one of the major factors.

[Cookie]

All the same, it's hardly the primative warfare you refer to.

But your right though, us Brits do punch above our weight. Take tha batle of Britain, I mean how many did they out number us by? I forget but it was a lot wasn't it.

[Antichrist_Online]

I said conventional, not primitive, ie not nuclear, chemical or biological or weapons which cause stupid ammounts of blue on blue fire.

[Cookie]

Maybe it was a wrong choice of word, didn't mean anything by it.

[Ian]

A comment on the spelling: The American method of spelling is mostly what Britain was using when the Americans revolted, English has developed due to influences of European languages, American hasn't. Hence the bad spelling.

Then why do you still drink warm beer? We stopped when we mass produced refrigeration in the 1920's. That's development. Also, no, you didn't speak like Americans did at the time of the revolution. We both changed as cultures, you just had more influence from other European countries. And if you think that makes you more "developed," well, you're a nazi.

[formerly known as hf]

And if you think that makes you more "developed," well, you're a nazi.

?

[Jur Schagen]

Dresden was an accident. The firestorm created by the winds was completly unpredicted and the construction of the city was one of the major factors.

The major effects that firestorms could cause were well-known at that (late) stage; Hamburg had been ashed by then as the most important example... in fact the bomb manufacturers actively designed their bombs to create these inferno's. In short: the enormous fires attract huge amounts of (cold) oxygen to the fire - the (hot) CO2 moves upwards - hurricane-level winds blow towards the fire, feeding the flames into even larger levels - attracting yet more oxygen - actively suffocating people for lack of oxygen along the way.

There seems to be little fuss about the early bombings because they had a military purpose, even if they did target civilians as well, and the Nazi's had done their fair share of bestiality to retaliate for... but by the time Dresden was bombed, Germany was already down on its knees, there were no military targets in the city, and it was crowded with refugees for the advancing Soviets. Which has all led to a more negative view on "Bomber Harris", the RAF Bomber Commander, especially in the last few years.

Jur.

[Stan]

Hindsight is always 20/20.

[Camino]

The western republic governments are all deeply flawed, there is not a single nation on this planet that has achieved a nice happy balance. I would not select any nation as the greatest as I can see only flaws, half-hearted help and outright lies in every single one of them.

The uprising in Bolivia two weeks ago is a sign of discontent, admittedly a small one yet a symptom really of how the convenience of always being able to get the same thing wherever you go is getting tiring for some. I cannot go anywhere in my country without coming across an international chain store or even a regional chain, for me that is the greatest loss which has been ignored by nationalist elements. Instead of directing their rhetoric against the pre-packaged, easily recognisable and monoculture of consumerism they seem more distracted by trifling elements of the actions countries X,Y and Z are taking against D,E and F.

The republic system has become corrupted, this much is blatant in all aspects of government throughout the world where it exists, are we concerned by this inefficient and incapable officials? Of course we are, we tell our friends and colleagues about how unsightly it is that such people can carry about their work, except it ends their for the most part, instead of tackling the problems at their cause we simply go off to elect someone else equally damaging. Until we enforce a change in the culture of politics we are going to end up with the wrong people every time ending up in power and frankly that is pretty unacceptable. However it isn’t just government culture that needs to be changed, our views and expectations for everyone in a position of power need to be altered. We expect the work to be carried out, we expect those people to try and do the right thing but we also know that sometimes people screw up because it happens for reasons beyond our control but that it also happens become some people aren’t cut out to be doing that particular job.

The representatives of the nation are failing in their duties, they are not acting in the interests of their constituents and neither are they working towards a unified vision of prosperity for all. I have not said what the answer is, I won’t, mainly because I don’t know how I envision an ideal government however I do believe that it must be built from the ground up, because those ivory towers often mean looking down at the ground floor can blur reality, its easier to believe things are okay and go do something else.

Ah screw it, everybody carry on about your business and just try to be nice to each other, just try do something that’s fairly challenging when you’re in the mood to do it but for goodness sake don’t see it as your duty, don’t look upon it as a chore because you will act in the least helpful manner.

EDIT: Please don't say England when you mean Britain, it does get slightly annoying afterall it is a nation called "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island" In case anybody is wondering I say republic instead of democracy because it is a more accurate description of western goverments than using the term democracy, any contradictions will have to be met by dictionary related evidence.

[Talapus]

What about the 'Principality of Hutt River Province', I understand things are going well there for all of the residents.