A brief but excellent post on happenings on this date back in 1944, with thanks to Dr. Reynolds for the heads-up.
You know, it has become quite popular amongst stupid people to attempt to make political hay by the specious method of comparing the amount of time we have been engaged in Iraq to the amount of time we spent fighting World War II. It might be worth considering that in December of 1944, American involvement in the Second World War had already lasted three years.
Now maybe I'm wrong, but I don't recall reading commentary from citizens at the time that the war was going badly because we'd already been there almost twice as long as we'd been involved in the First World War--which from the official declaration of war on April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918, was about a year and seven months or so. We didn't fight either of those wars alone--in both cases the English and the French had been slaughtered for years before we got on the Continent. And in the case of the Second, the world had been at arms years before September 1939, with the Japanese annexing Manchuria in 1931 and invading China in 1937, with Germany taking the Sudetenland and annexing Austria in 1938, and with Italy invading Ethiopia in 1935.
Worth considering also the war that came on the heels of WWII, Korea. We're still fighting that one, you know. There is no peace treaty--only an armistice. It's a hot war even if there's not that much shooting. A 53-year-old quagmire, if we use the term the way our brothers in the Fourth Estate tend to use it.
All that to say I believe we'd be a bit further along in our current conflict if we had a few more people willing to say "Nuts" to our enemies, and not worry too much if large amounts of said enemies are sent to greet their Maker.
Posted by Terry Oglesby at December 22, 2006 12:11 PM