Steve Shaw - 02 Jul 17 - 07:36 PM

1: One of the most dangerous faux-historical traits is the what-if syndrome.

No it is not Shaw, as far as the study of History goes it is an essential part of the process of studying and understanding why things did happen the way that they did.

2: "What if we hadn't invaded Iraq? (It would have been three times worse for the Iraqis)"

Much, much worse Shaw. Iraq invaded in March 2003. IIRC at the time both Russia and France were pushing in the UN to get sanctions lifted on Iraq as they weren't working anyway. Sanctions lifted, Iraq rearms, and then in 2004 Saddam Hussein hears about secret Iranian nuclear fuel enrichment plants at Natanz and Oom. Of course Iraqis would probably have continued to be murdered at the rate of between 154 and 282 per day under Saddam but the much worse part would be that once he had completed his rearmament Saddam would have attacked Iran and sparked off a second Iran/Iraq War as there is no way on this Earth that Saddam Hussein in Iraq would stand for or permit neighbouring Iran to acquire any sort of nuclear capability.

3: "What if we hadn't firestormed Dresden? (The war would have lasted for months longer)"

Most likely, the Soviets would have had to have fought their way through it, in the process flattening it completely and that would have taken time in addition to costing unnecessary loss of allied lives (General principal of war is that in fighting one it is preferable to kill the enemy not sacrifice those fighting on your side).

4: "What if the two bombs hadn't been dropped on Japan? (Millions more would have been killed)"

Again most likely, and the tally would have been millions (General principal of war is that in fighting one it is preferable to kill the enemy not sacrifice those fighting on your side). The bombs saved more Japanese civilian lives than would have died had the main Japanese Islands been invaded (Which by the way would have triggered the execution of every Allied POW in Japanese hands)

5: "What if we hadn't sacrificed a whole nation, Czechoslovakia, to the Nazis?"

Well we know it wasn't just to the Nazis, Hungary and Poland took great chunks out of it as well. But what we know would have happened is that there would have been a war in 1938 and all available evidence points to the greatest likelihood that in 1938 Great Britain and France would have lost it.