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Once Saddam succeeded in lifting sanctions and reconstituting his weapons programs,...


And this was going happen...when exactly?

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... the same people that point the finger at Bush for letting 9/11 happen, except that this time, they would have a valid argument. As Churchill said, World War II could have been avoided, and hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved if the world confronted the fascist regimes in Europe before country after country began to fall under their control. But, it was the USA's isolationist movement, Britain's appeasement and France's head in the sand that let World War II happen.


You know what? I bet Churchill is spinning in his grave now, rueing the day that he uttered those words. I am confident that even whilst uttering them that he knew 2 things - first that he was right, and second, that he had also been right to only lead Britain into war after the perceived threat became a real threat.

Britain risked and lost a lot in WWII. There was a chance that appeasement of Hitler would have created a stable and prosperous Europe, which Britain would still have remained (a less important) part of. There was also a chance that Nazism could have simply burned itself out a few years down the line. Hitler could have died, the moderates within hist military could have organised a coup (which they did try incidentally) etc. And Britain could have been left with most of her empire intact.

By entering the war Britain lost much of her empire. Was it worth the price? History would like us to think so. But consider that Stalin admitted to Churchill that communism had been responsible for at least 8 million deaths within Soviet Russia. By allying with Russia, Britain helped communism take root in eastern Europe. We have no way of calculating how many more people died there post-war than would have if Hitler had been left in power. Admittedly we have to weight that cost up against the 6 million Jews killed by Hitler, and the human cost of the Russo-German war that would have taken place anyway, but my point remains - Britain entering the war helped communism take root and caused suffering.

And before anyone gets jingoistic around here, consider this - Churchill implored Roosevelt at least four times to launch the main attack on Hitler's Europe by going through the Balkan states. By doing so the post war distribution of forces within Europe would have left the Soviets with a far smaller slice of the pie. Roosevelt insisted on marching through the French Riveria, which is why the Soviets ended up with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Eastern Germany, Bulgary and Hungary. How many lives could have been saved?

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Little did we know that France having its head in the sand was better than where their head is now.

I don't know what you meant by that. Are you implying that their anti-war opinions are invalid? Or that their opinions that Kerry woud be a better President than Bush are invalid? Either way, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I trust that by "we" that you meant Bush/war supporters and weren't talking for everyone else...

Since the GOP like to quote Churchill, perhaps hoping that some of the great statemanship will somehow rub off on Bush, or more realistically, praying that they can convince the electorate that Bush is a great statesman, I'll share a few more of his quotes with you;

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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.


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Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.


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Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
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