Germany

Reflections On The Pearl Harbor Anniversary

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The History Channel tonight presented an exceptional two hour program on the 24 hours after Pearl Harbor, and how Franklin D. Roosevelt learned about and handled the matter up to the declaration of war on Japan precisely a day after the attack.

It made this author wonder about how much is taught about Pearl Harbor in the schools of America. This is such a path breaking event, a turning point in our history, unmatched since the attack on Fort Sumter which stared the Civil War, and only matched since by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

How many students would know what Pearl Harbor represents, and would know that Japan was the nation which attacked us? How many would realize the importance of World War II, and know all the “players” in that war, including FDR, Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Emperor Hirohito?

It is horrifying to think of the historical ignorance of America, not only of this event, but of all of the events and facts of American history and government which are needed for citizens to be knowledgeable enough to be good citizens and intelligent voters!

Education MUST be the prime way for this country to prosper and advance into the future, but instead, we are seeing educational cutbacks all over the nation!

This is, therefore, a time to mourn, not just for the victims of Pearl Harbor, but for ourselves as a nation which is poorly informed, which affects our politics and our hopes for a better America in the future!

Finally, Congressional Gold Medals To Japanese American Veterans Of World War II!

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Seventy years ago next December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, forcing America into World War II.

Among the victims of the Japanese attack were approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans who were placed into internment camps for the duration of the war, because of their ethnicity.

But their sons served honorably in World War II and contributed mightily to the victory over both Japan and Germany, with a segregated unit winning more medals, honors and awards than any other unit of World War II.

Now, Congress has seen fit, as of November 2, to honor the veterans who served and those who died through the awarding of Congressional Gold Medals in a ceremony in the US Capitol Visitor Center, presided over by Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The most touching moment was the speech of Senate President Pro Tem Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who has served longer in the Senate than anyone but the late Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia.

Wounded seriously in World War II, and recuperating in a hospital alongside former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, Inouye went on to become the most famous Asian American politician in the history of Congress, and if he serves in office until June 29, 2014, he will have become the longest serving senator in US history, surpassing Senator Byrd.

On Veterans Day, it is appropriate that we honor and commemorate those heroic Japanese American soldiers who did their duty despite their families being interned, as they fought for freedom and democracy!

Commemoration Of Two Events On November 9: One Wonderful, One Tragic!

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Today, November 9, marks two events, both in Germany, which changed the world–one in a positive way, the other in a very tragic way!

On this day in 1989, the Berlin Wall, which symbolized the horrors of Communism, came down spontaneously in East Germany, leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union two years later, and the end of the Cold War between Russia and the United States led alliance of NATO.

The collapse of the wall gave the world hope for a peaceful future, no one being aware that the Persian Gulf War just over a year later helped to lead to the new age of terrorism, which had already begun, but accelerated after US forces were stationed in Saudi Arabia, the home of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Islamic faith.

Fifty one years earlier, in 1938, in Nazi Germany, we had the tragedy of Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, when the Nazis unleashed an attack on Jewish citizens and property, including synagogues ransacked and set on fire, along with businesses, shops, and the destruction of cemeteries, and the arrest of thousands and the death of many Jews in a vicious manner. This is now seen as the beginning of the Holocaust, and sadly, while there was condemnation of the actions on November 9 and 10, the international community did little more than condemn verbally.

So the later date marked the end of Communism in Eastern Europe, while the first marked the growing menace of Nazism and anti Semitism, and the horrors of anti Semitism are still a reality in the world today!

Tragic Passing Of Richard Holbrooke, Premier Diplomat And Peace Maker! :(

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The death last night of Richard Holbrooke, one of the greatest diplomats in American history, after the occurrence of an aortic tear while visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department last Friday, is a tremendous loss to American diplomacy. 🙁

A career diplomat since the late 1960s, Holbrooke worked on the problems of Vietnam, Bosnia, Cyprus, Afghanistan and Pakistan.   He was also Ambassador to Germany, and also was Ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton.

Holbrooke was often considered a potential Secretary of State, and many thought he should have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having negotiated the Dayton Accords in 1995, which brought peace to the Balkans and ended the Serbian war on Bosnia.

Also having prevented a war between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus in 1996, Holbrooke was known as a tough negotiator who would not let anyone intimidate him, and he was known for not suffering fools or villains, staring down Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic.

It will not be easy to replace Holbrooke, so American diplomacy has suffered a major loss hard to measure!

Germany 1945 And Germany 2010: 65 Years After VE Day! What A Difference!

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65 years ago today was VE Day, as the remnants of Nazi Germany surrendered, ending World War II in Europe!

Germany lay in ruins, and was then divided by the Allies, into what became a 45 period of division, between Communist East Germany (controlled by the Soviet Union), and the Federal Republic of West Germany (controlled by troops of the United States, Great Britain, France).

East Germany was a totalitarian Communist dictatorship which languished economically, while West Germany flourished as a successful democracy.

The Berlin Wall was built by the Russians in 1961, dividing that city physically from then to 1989. When the Wall fell, the Soviets had already determined to withdraw from Eastern Europe and East Germany, and within a year, not only was the Cold War ended, but the two German nations became united as one, finally, after 45 years of division.

Now Germany, a very successful democracy, is also the economic powerhouse of Europe, and is engaged in the bailing out of Greece, and likely in the future, of other European countries in economic crisis, including Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain!

Who would have ever imagined that the nation that had spawned the worst war in history would, two thirds of a century later, be the savior of nations?

An amazing turn of circumstances, which no one could ever have imagined! 🙂

The Greek Crisis Just The Tip Of The Iceberg! :( Europe In Crisis!

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The Greek economic crisis, leading to widespread riots and looting over the past two days, is an alarming development, which is likely to continue and to spread to other European nations which have debt crises and weak economies!

The Greeks are so overextended in debt that if it were not for the assistance of Germany, the strongest economy in Europe, it would go bankrupt and into chaos and anarchy. As it is, with Germany insisting on harsh cutbacks in the Greek economy, including dramatic cuts in pensions and benefits, the Greeks are involved in massive demonstrations that are rapidly getting out of control, with three bank workers killed after a bank building was set on fire.

The problem with Greece and, really, with many other nations, including the United States, is that too many wealthy people have been successful in evading taxes or paying far less than they should be expected to pay, and the middle class is becoming the victim, as well as the underclass, as a result of their selfishness and greed! 🙁

And in the midst of all this, the Republican party continues to be demagogic and promote lower taxes, acting as if government can exist without proper collection of taxes based on ability to pay. It is that party, under George W. Bush, which had a lot to do with the economic crisis this nation and the world faces! 🙁

The problem is that the so called PIIGS nations (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) are all in financial crisis, and it is affecting the value of the Euro currency, and now causing a stock market crisis as I write this! 🙁

The biggest irony of all this is that Germany (once the nation of Frederick the Great, Bismarck, Kaiser Wilhelm II, and Adolf Hitler), and the nation that caused two world wars and represented autocratic and dictatorial governments in its past, has become the savior of the nation which represents the emergence of democracy in the Western World in ancient times! Who would ever have imagined such a scenario?

The danger is that this European economic crisis could spread elsewhere, and already, there are hints that Great Britain, having its parliamentary elections today, may face a somewhat similar economic crisis, for the prime minister who is elected to head the House of Commons. It might be a mixed victory, something that might be regretted for the man who faces the future economic crisis in the United Kingdom!

And, ultimately, if this economic crisis goes ballistic, it will affect the economic future of Barack Obama’s presidency, and the fortunes of all Americans! 🙁