[BigM555]

Originally Posted by shadowgenesis

...........a lot of people who would jump on any chance to say how much they hate Bush, even if he did something fuckin right.

Whew, that was close. I thought you were going to make a point we might have to keep an eye open for.

Not much fear of that now is there.

[TheMissing]

Originally Posted by Leon

now, i'm NOT siding with Bush on this, because i KNOW for a fact that he doesn't know his history. from what i've learned in history classes (i'm a mild history buff), the Allies didn't know there were so many prisoners at Auschwitz. hell, they didn't even know it was a concentration camp. the Axis powers did a pretty good job of keeping that place under wraps.

It's stunning how many GERMANS didn't know about the concentration camps, or even the persecution of jews. Hanna Reitsch, a famous female test pilot (who did the first, and only v-1 bomb manned test flight, she didn't actually use it as a bomb, she landed safely :P) was in utter disbelief when she saw allied "propaganda" about the camps, and refused to believe it. So that adds to the fact that while allies didn't know the extent of what the Germans were doing, some Germans were in the dark as well.

....Completely off topic... But meh.

[The Dark Wolf]

Originally Posted by Leon

Simmons has been done. perhaps... John Denver?

Leon, don't make embarrass you next weekend.

Besides, I like John Denver.



You know what, I'll go out on a limb here. I can see Eoe's (or whatever his name is) point. I never really knew much about a bombing Aushwitz debate, but it's logical.

As shitty as it would be to maybe kill 1,000, 10,000, or whatever number of innocent people, it might've been possibly worth it, considering how many lives may have been able to be saved in the future.


And Bush even shed some tears over the ordeal. Now, as much as I... well, hate, Bush, Auschwitz is one of the most moving places on Earth. The sheer enormity of the horror overwhelms almost anyone. The same is true at the Holocaust Museum in DC. Probably the same for the Memorial in Jerusalem that Bush vistied. And considering is Messianic tendencies, he probably really was moved greatly by the plight of the WWII era Jews.

So, I guess I'm saying... off the bat, it sounds like a bad idea, and probably is, in the big scheme of things. But, who knows? I guess we never will, as it's kind of pointless. Coulda shoulda woulda. The ultimate "crying over spilled milk." But it's a legitimate question. Probably no "right" answer.

[playstopause]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

And Bush even shed some tears over the ordeal.

Yeah... But we all know George cries a lot.

Newsmax.com - Bush: I Cry A Lot

[eoe]

BBC NEWS | Europe | Why didn't the Allies bomb Auschwitz?

McGovern: U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz

Could The Allies Have Bombed Auschwitz-Birkenau?

[guitarplayerone]

edit:


the germans would have immediately turned their machine guns on the workers, and torched the camp soon afterwards
everyone who survived when it was liberated, would have simply been taken to another camp and gassed, if not shot.
if the train tracks were bombed, even if it was possible, you think the guards would have gone without? its the prisoners who wouldnt even get any food whatsoever.

Also, my father's side of the family is Jewish, my granps flew planes for the USSR during the war. This kind of revisionism seems almost as bad as the nazi kind, since the US lost a lot of lives in the Jewish interest, and is now hated in the middle east because of our creation of Israel.

Not being anti- semetic but what that guy is writing, and what you are saying is just plain wrong. (Being a bit of a WWII history buff myself)

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if middle- america doesn't wise up and vote democrat after 8 years of his bullshit, then this country deserves whatever asshole it elects.

[TheMissing]

Originally Posted by guitarplayerone

edit: sorry dude, thats bullshit.
the germans would have immediately turned their machine guns on the workers, and torched the camp soon afterwards

Yup. Without hesitation. Once the camp was compromised, they would just leave it behind. If they took out the rail-lines, then they wouldn't be able to get supplies to the guards. In the end they would have just abandoned it.

[oompa]

Originally Posted by The Dark Wolf

Auschwitz is one of the most moving places on Earth. The sheer enormity of the horror overwhelms almost anyone.

thats exactly why drawing the conclusion -afterwards- that it would have been better to bomb it is so ignorant. i think the germans would have jumped ship in an instant, but as you said - theorybattles are useless and in Bush's case also offending.

what's useful on the other hand is to learn from history, wich clearly was never Bush's strong side, and he might not have understood that many see it as a historic monument that screams HUMAN FAIL. maybe it made him feel small for once i dont know, but many need that place to be there, if you dont like it dont go there 60 years later saying that it should have been levelled. soon everyone who lived through WWII are dead, and many of them as well as 2nd and 3rd gen. relatives want auschwitz to be there afterwards.

if he want's to save future lives, keep it. that place is far more valuable than any iraqi oil field.
either way it was prolly just yet another offensive slip of the tongue.
whats with that guy and bombing stuff.

[The Dark Wolf]

As much as I dislike Bush, I don't see it the way you're attributing it to him, Oompa. But I respect what your saying.



Hate to say it, and again, I totally agree, it's basically useless speculation at this point. But there is a real legitimacy to asking if it would have been worth it to bomb that hellhole, even killing innocents, if it could have prevented future deaths.


Ultimately, the answer is likely "no," but wondering can't hurt.

[s7eve]

Now I have a mental picture of him riding da bomb while waiving his hat Homer Simpson style. It's the ultimate fiction meets reality, what if Homer Simpson was President? George Bush is Homer Simpson.