Andrew Bacevich: Farewell, the American Century

[pliuworld]

Good view points for US to acknowledge. However, to be fair and true, US did contribute to the fall of Japan totalitarianism, and creation of Japan democracy, which was a huge anchor stone to the stability of post-war Asia. In addition, US did contribute in a huge way to the reconstruction of Japan and Europe economy. These were not acknowledged in the remark here.

[writereducator]

Much to comment here, positive and negative.

The number or percentage of military casualties between the USSR and the USA is not measure of respective contributions to the destruction of Nazi Germany. The USSR used their soldiers as cannon fodder while we had much more regard for our troops.

But I think he's right that we need to recognize our failures to avoid repeating them.

[oodoodanoo]

@writereducator Thanks for your opinion, Mr. Hanson.

[1977Melville]

So I can assume the USA is going to become the UK?

[tonylee1973]

I respect Dr. Bacevich. But before Germany became a totalarian society Russia was under the control of Stalin. Would Fascism (which was partly a reaction against the revolution in 1917) come about if the czar was still in power? Certainly though we have an obligation to apoligize to the Iranian people, South America, the Middle east ect. And say thanks to gentlemen such as Dr. Bacevich.

[jkiene]

We didn't use the bomb in anger? We used the bomb to end the war. Has the US made mistakes? Yes but does that mean we need to decline to a European State?

We don't need to apologize to anyone. We evaluate the mistakes verses successes and we learn from. But to blame the US for our lives is wrong

[LilleGeneva]

What wisdom this man offers. Thank you for posting this.

[oodoodanoo]

The stupidest part of the American Century has been the willingness to take responsibility for all of the British Empire's aftermath.

They created Israel out of already-occupied Palestine, thus insulting the entire Muslim world. They sewed together three incompatible populations to create Iraq. They created the Durand line through the middle of the Pashtun homeland. They arbitrarily partitioned India, leading to a nuclear cold war on the subcontinent.

[oktober69105]

Bacevich is mostly correct on the disintegration of the USSR. But Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko never wanted it to fail. Mostly they didn't care. Gorbachev, I believe, sincerely hated the USSR and therefore he actively dismantled the apparatus and quickened its demise. Gen. Bill Odom has a great book called "The Collapse of the Soviet Military that portrays Gorbachev as a menace to the military. This is why most Russians still hate him.

[wonderman65]

he didnt say that he said they were responsible listen please

[Ameriqanista]

It would have been interesting to see that without American material support that the Soviets would have collapsed outright and been unable to mount a comeback agains the Nazi's since they possed and occupied nearly all of Soviet industrial capacity. But why should we let full disclosure stop this guy from selling a few more books.

[wonderman65]

the amount of support we were giving b4 stalingrad was still small we were still trying to start the war machine do not take credit for something that is not yours

[Ameriqanista]

What a selective retelling of History.Stalin initially backed Germany giving him free reign to butcher the nordic countries, the low countries, France, North Africa, and bombard Britain all so Comrade Stalin could chastise and oppress eastern European populations at his whim. It was Comrade Stalin's paranoia that left his Army with out experienced officers to resist Nazi advances and his refusal for personal non-strategic reasons that led to most civilian and military deaths.

[TheLonelySoldier]

"What a selective retelling of History"

Indeed.

In the early hours of August 24, 1939, the MolotovRibbentrop Pact was signed.

On September 17, 1939, after signing an armistice with Japan, the Soviets launched their own invasion of Poland

On 30 November 1939, Soviet Union attacked Finland. A Nordic country.

Because the attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on 14 December.

[wonderman65]

facts are the # of soviet deaths was the highest the early pacts with nazi germany do not diminish the sacrifice of 20 million

[Wario7793]

Basically, I see the American Century is that of the fastest growing in technology, the biggest development in art and culture, the quickest in medicine and almost all fields!

[sandrahn]

Basically, you're an historical illiterate who's obviously never left his little basement bedroom and knows as much about the world to compare anything with as you know about US history.

[Wario7793]

huh? Look, I don't care if this is about the Iraq War, ok? I think the war sucked, so I took a broader look at this 20th century and since your comment got a thumbs down, I see someone disagreed with you ;P

[WoodRatGirl]

And I also disagree with her mate ;)

*high 5's you!*

[jeremyshambles]

quite the interesting user name, i picture a skateboarding mouse, cheers

[fafoutis125a]

I'm not so sure that a country's contribution to winning a war is measurable solely in terms of casualties. I don't refute the statistics Bacevich presents here, but we should give some credit to military power in terms of weaponry, morale, and overall strategy. There's no denying that America was superior on all three counts. And don't forget that the US fought Japan mostly alone and so was involved in a two front war.

[sandrahn]

"There's no denying that America was superior on all three counts. " -- what a load of bilge. Weaponry, yes, of course. Morale? What a joke of a comment! No people or military had more courage, morale and determination than the Russians to fight off an invading and occupying army in such mass, unified numbers -- NONE. Strategy? Really? The Russians did extremely well in defeating the most powerful military at the time.

[righthand48]

65% Russian loses

2% USA loses.

Thank you Russia for winning WW2 in Europe.

[RosenKrantz666]

A GENUINE AMERICAN WARRIOR. Knows when and where is appropriate to use to power to defend oneself and nation. I blame the neoCONs, GWB & the BankSters who funded the invasion of SEVERAL sovereign nations, entirely, which led to the murder of your USMC son, in Iraq. Our sincerest condolences.

[jkiene]

@RosenKrantz666 which led to the murder of your USMC son, in Iraq. Our sincerest condolences.? Wow, are you serious? I guess his son was forced into the Military by George Bush, right? He was forced to fight an UN-just war? Right? Sovereign Nations? Iraq didn't follow the gulf war cease fire treaty...should we have let Saddam take over Kuwait?

[dsindc]

@jkiene The point is that his son wanted to serve his country in the military - it is not for the military to question the missions they are sent to complete. What is "an UN-just war"? Your grammar and syntax would seem to indicate you're not real educated. Since when does an edict from the UN mean $hit to the U.S. government? As for the invasion of Iraq (not Kuwait) that was unilateral with a few allies tagging along, and it was based on lies.

[dsindc]

@jkiene The result of our dismantling of the Saddam Hussein regime is this- we destroyed the balance of power that had neutralized Iran. That is now gone, and the real result is a rising Iran, soon to have nuclear weapons. After all, N. Korea laughed off Bush's threats - "we will not tolerate a nuclear N. Korea". BUt for you to minimize his serivce, and his son's, is disgusting. And you served ... where? He paid his dues and has sterling academic creds. Idiot.

[jkiene]

@dsindc Oh, thanks for setting me straight. You're a real nice person. Thanks for coming along and showing me the way of the world. I realize how smart you are and that I shouldn't voice my opinion. Thanks!

[dsindc]

@jkiene - When you make a statement like the following " Our sincerest condolences.? Wow, are you serious? I guess his son was forced into the Military by George Bush, right?" you should expect a response. That his son voluntarily gave his life so you can spout off here, and yet you make a flippant remark makes me sick. What is appropriate to you? "Well hey, he did ask for it right?" Typical neo-con attitude. YOU won't put a uniform on, yet you think it's fine to minimize those who do.

[dsindc]

@jkiene All I can say is ... you're a real piece of work.