"where were you when the Japanese were about to invade Australia? "

Wasn't born. Parents and my parents and grandparents (living in Bundaberg!) were thoroughly pissed that the f***wit Aussie politicans and military wanted to withdraw to The Brisbane Line and let them land. I drive past the 'old tank road' regularly - where the rear support line was drawn. The 'chocos' - reserve soldiers - turned them back in NG (without any help from the USA!) over incredibly rugged country - while the Aussie regulars were still under R&R after returning from Britan. Many Aussies were in the shitcan for suggesting that Aussie military leaders were incompetent - if it had not been for the arrogant (and he was really! - just as well!) Maccie - things may well have been different - even though the Japanese were starting to struggle with over-extended supply lines, like Hitler did in Russia. Maccie believed that there was only was defence - attack. All the same, the grateful Aussies still came up with "overfed, overpaid, oversexed, and over here" - my mother's sister married one - and WAS FORCED TO GIVE UP HER Aussie citizenship - arrogant, wot, eh? Look up "Battle of Brisbane" ... :-P


"Did anyone suggest that MacCarthur should go home because he was an arrogant American?"

Yes. :-) Fortunately saner Aussie political and military heads prevailed.


"What would have happened if the USA had stayed out of WW 2 altogether?"

Ha! Hitler thoroughly detested the USA. He declared war on the USA rapidly after Pearl Harbour. He was working on long range missiles (which the US obtained the plans for after the war) to bomb New York with HE like the shorter range prototypes (V1 & V2) were used against England. He also had underway research for long range jet aircraft, and a nuclear bomb program - intended to be fitted to the long range missiles. There was even a plan that nobody knew about till after hostilities, to send long range aircraft to refuel and arm from a sub that would bomb the USA (luckily moot once the subs were driven from the Atlantic). The selfless sacrifical daylight raids by the US assisted the British (and the rest of the world) to delay these programs. In the long run, without participating, the USA would have been destroyed anyway (that was part of The Master Plan) - it was advertised in such films as 'Why We Fight' by the USA (I have copies!) - and the clever competent US politicans knew it - only the average ignorant populace were mostly 'protected' from much of that detailed knowledge, lest they call for surrender! Oh and most of the USA original 'help' (before Pearl Harbour) consisted of getting the British to mortage their grandchildren to pay for it... which the USA profited well from...


"Wanna talk about arrogance? how about the French? They didn't run us off when we were there kicking Hitler's ass."

French people went 'underground', many losing their lives sabotaging, and passing info out so the the Yanks could bomb the right places. It was in the US's long term interest (as mentioned above) to defeat Hitler's minions, in France and everywhere.


"Your remark was out of line and you know it."

Well, if you really want to play that hard ball way, ok.

"I didn't see anything but a bald statement of fact from you Robin."

Text only discussions often cause that error.


"please don't confuse the majority of decent Americans with the bunch of crooks running the country."

Well since I HAVE already stated that, it seems that most people aren't bothering to read or digest what I say anyway - so ...

In the Aussie tradition of Ned Kelly, "might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb" - especially as you all seem to want to keep on sinking the boot after any apology...

Been thinking hard about 'exported US BS'... there's just so much - political, mililtary, social, economic... no small part of the reason why we are in a mess with global warming has been US BS ideas of 'bigger, better, faster, less efficient, more luxury'...

So lets, for a start, (and if you want to keep it up, I'll go on) just pick one of the recent biggies...

Iraq...

Blair and Little Fascist Johnny couldn't join in fast enough, but the USA also used its political and financial muscle in open arrogant defiance of the UN to bully countries like Japan into sending troops outside its borders - something which is still causing political and constitional conniptions in that country. Funny how the US originally set up that Constitution to suit it's own purposes at the original time... :-)

Johhny's ministers recently let it slip that the reason for NOT withdrawing Aussie Troops is "OIL" - logically, since the oil did not magically appear there after the troops went in, it would suggest that had something to do with sending them, in spite of assurances that it did not... New Zealanders are laughing about Iraq, since after Uncle Sam had a tantrum and kicked them out of ANZUS for having a political mind of their own, the US suddenly had a panic attack when it realised that there was also an Aussie movement to play the same game: if it had not been for Little Fascist Johnny, the US would have had no Aussie bases either!


As I said "The perception of the emergent behaviour of a larger group - such as the the 'country' - by those external to that 'country' may be at odds with the perceived behaviour of various individuals of that 'country' - I do not 'tar them all with the same brush'."

But if you want to keep playing hard ball, ok - bring it on...