Americans Perceive Their Political Opposites As Ready For Violence, Poll Shows | Talking Points Memo

[ljb860]

Spent 2 years doing nothing but setting up ambushes, we must have hit just about every part of the country one time or another. We would chopper in to the area of operation, ruck in and do the same back out. Never were other units within 25/50 klicks. On our own and made sure we learnt how to move quickly, quietly, setup and disappear. Things like eating as a local so that a simple thing such as body odor did not give us away became the norm. Never left anyone behind even if it meant carting your back for hours.

[ljb860]

@occamscoin

It might have gone better if they didn’t delay some crucial months bailing out Italy in their misadventures.

Greece and Libya come to mind.

[tsp]

@christianhankel

Of course they’re scared. They’re being brainwashed.

Many of their brains were contaminated to begin with. A good cleansing would actually help!

[playitagainrowlf]

@ljb860

@occamscoin

It might have gone better if they didn’t delay some crucial months bailing out Italy in their misadventures.

Greece and Libya come to mind

And the dog’s breakfast of changing priorities in Russia. We’re going after Leningrad! No, the oil in the south! No, Moscow! No…

If they’d just pushed in the middle and taken Moscow first, they’d have cut the major north-south rail lines, but Hitler dithered, so the Russians could redeploy troops to slow up each attack until Japan hit the U. S., which freed up a whole army in Manchuria, along with their kick-ass commander Zhukov.

[n_b]

@occamscoin

Barbarossa was planned and intended from before their pre-war treaty with Russia, and was about Lebensraum and removing an enemy with a pre-emptive strike.

The German General Staff were tasked with many contingency plans, just as the Pentagon is today. Just because an operation is planned doesn’t mean it gets a green light. The Nazis had a plan to invade Great Britain, too.

The additional issue of “Lebensraum” does not explain the initial thrust toward the oil fields of the Caucasus region.

Removing an enemy that is integer multiples larger than Nazi Germany with whom you already have a non-aggression treaty doesn’t make sense, either. Don’t want the USSR as an enemy? Don’t attack them. Seems clear to me. Oh, and the USSR had almost zero ability to project force outside of the “near abroad”, so they weren’t a huge threat until provoked.

That said, the Nazis wanted to enslave (literally) the population and use them to work the oil fields and farms to correct major deficiencies in the Nazi fuel stores and food. This, of course, was insane.

[glowgirl]

@n_b

True, but it wasn’t the French invading Germany, so the reverse case isn’t relevant.

Ahhhh, wait! The Germans were going to knock out the French in six weeks, so the difference in rail gage was never going to matter, was it? And they’da gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for that dastardly French Army, retreating in good order!

I actually have a medal struck to commemorate the grand entrance into Paris in 1914, if you can believe it. At some point in its history, someone ground a hole into it to wear as jewelry; I do wonder what the wearer meant by it–perhaps a testimony to overconfidence?

[n_b]

@glowgirl

The Germans were going to knock out the French in six weeks, so the difference in rail gage was never going to matter, was it?

Assuming nothing went awry on their plan, sure.

That doesn’t happen often and is why the staff is tasked to create contingency plans that are supposed to be reviewed by the commanders and gamed out, time permitting.