The War

Wagner · #1 01-18-2007, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

Yes, American troops did cross into Germany about a month before Russian troops did, but if you look at the map, you will see why:

Berlin is near the eastern border. The Germans had more troops in western Poland and Austria than they did in Western Germany. The goal at the end was to protect Berlin.

Ummm....the military says this:

The military objectives of Operation Enduring Freedom, as articulated by President George W. Bush in his Sept. 20th Address to a Joint Session of Congress and his Oct. 7th address to the country, include the destruction of terrorist training camps and infrastructure within Afghanistan, the capture of al Qaeda leaders, and the cessation of terrorist activities in Afghanistan.

Of course you are correct, and they were full of BS, but that is what they said. You should add a couple of important words to your statement:

The goal was to remove the Taliban and instill a leadership more in line with Western business interests.

And where does it say Bin Laden? It doesn't. And apparently you are discounting who achieved what based on where the bulk of the troops were. The US forces still pulled into Berlin and could have removed Hitler before the Russians. This of course is directed to the populous that thinks "Russia" was the reason Hitler killed himself.

Eric5273 · #2 01-18-2007, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WagnerX5

And apparently you are discounting who achieved what based on where the bulk of the troops were. The US forces still pulled into Berlin and could have removed Hitler before the Russians. This of course is directed to the populous that thinks "Russia" was the reason Hitler killed himself.

Hitler was dead by the time American troops entered Berlin. They were still 50 miles out when he killed himself. The Russians entered Berlin many days before the American troops did, and they were a few hundred yards away from Hitler when he killed himself. There are plenty of WWII timelines online.....look at one.

And yes, the key to winning the war was to dismantle the German armed forces. The Russians took out over 4 million German soldiers, while the American forces took out less than 10% that number. There were very few surrenders, as the German commanders were instructed to never surrender.

90% of the European war was fought on the Eastern Front. All the elite and experienced German soldiers were in the East. The Western front was mostly 12-16 year olds in divisions called known as "Hitlerjugend", or "Hitler Youth".

rebound · #3 01-18-2007, 11:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

Hitler was dead by the time American troops entered Berlin. They were still 50 miles out when he killed himself. The Russians entered Berlin many days before the American troops did, and they were a few hundred yards away from Hitler when he killed himself.

So what you're saying is that the US forces moved much faster than the Russian ones. Cool.

Eric5273 · #4 01-18-2007, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rebound

So what you're saying is that the US forces moved much faster than the Russian ones. Cool.

Yes, they marched across Western Europe with very little resistance.

Wagner · #5 01-19-2007, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric5273

Yes, they marched across Western Europe with very little resistance.

OMG, I'll have to get tell all those dead WWII soldiers there wasn't any resistance. Eric, that comment was asinine. You're better then a xxx type war comment

Eric5273 · #6 01-19-2007, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WagnerX5

OMG, I'll have to get tell all those dead WWII soldiers there wasn't any resistance. Eric, that comment was asinine. You're better then a xxx type war comment

I meant they had little resistance when compared to what the Russians faced on the Eastern front. And yes, I believe that the Russians would have defeated the Nazis regardless of whether or not the allies ever invaded Normandy. It would have taken them longer, but it would have happened. I think the outcome of the war was decided by early 1944.

As I said in an earlier post, over the 1943-1944 winter, Germany lost two-thirds of their army in Russia. The supply lines became too long, and over 2 million of their soldiers either starved to death or froze to death. That was too much for them to be able to overcome regardless of what happened after that.

Comparing the population of Germany back then to the United States now, that would be the equivalent of 10 million American soldiers dying. To put that in perspective, we currently have slightly more than 1 million total people in the Armed forces.

xxx · #7 01-18-2007, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WagnerX5

And where does it say Bin Laden? It doesn't. And apparently you are discounting who achieved what based on where the bulk of the troops were. The US forces still pulled into Berlin and could have removed Hitler before the Russians. This of course is directed to the populous that thinks "Russia" was the reason Hitler killed himself.

What color is the sky in your world.