DRESDEN, GERMANY
Derek Seizer
Deutsche Welle
21/5/2009
In a move aimed at healing the rifts of American foreign policy decisions, President Obama will make a trip to Europe next month, including a trip to Dresden, Germany. The trip will consist of several stops and the President will meet with the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany. Also slated are several policy speeches.
Perhaps the most controversial is a planned speech in which President Obama will formally apologize for American 'war crimes' during the Second World War. This would be particularly comforting to Europeans, who have long condemned American foreign policy actions, especially regarding civilians.
This speech will also be welcome in Germany, who had over 12,000,000 of its citizens killed during the war. Mayor Johann Krupp of Augensburg in Saxony stated to DW that the speech will "help my great-uncle's soul rest. He burned to death during the Dresden bombings."
Along with the Dresden fire-bombings, which German historians calculate killed 300,000 civilians, Obama will discuss other American actions. These include mistreatment of French civilians during the June 1944 invasion, including the killing of over 3,000 Milice members. In February 1945, the bridge over the Rhine River was bombed by an American B-29, killing over 300 fleeing refugees.
What is not clear is broader American 'war crimes' will be spoken of. These include accusations of anti-German sentiment during the war and placing Japanese-Americans into 'concentration camps', in which UC Berkeley professor Harold Beffer, PhD, estimated that 30,000 died.
Obama's speech will take place on June 6, the 65th anniversary of American, British, and Canadian landings in Normandy, France. He will speak briefly in Berlin before making his keynote address in Dresden.
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Showing posts with label WWII. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WWII. Show all posts
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Jumping in Pools List of the Ten Greatest Presidents
Sorry, Barack Obama isn't on the list.
10. Grover Cleveland- He's number ten on our list because of uniqueness: he is the only President elected twice on nonconsecutive occasions and appeared on the $1,000 bill.
9. Andrew Jackson- Reduced the National Debt and was the Chuck Norris of his day.
8. Woodrow Wilson- Led the nation through WWI and signed the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
7. John Fitzgerald Kennedy- Kept our country together during our closest brush with nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also declared "Ich bin ein Berliner."
6. Ronald Reagan- Led the United States through the troubled eighties with his ability to communicate and helped to win the Cold War.
5. Thomas Jefferson- Purchased the Louisiana Territory from France and led America to victory in the First Barbary War.
4. Theodore Roosevelt- Started the modern conservation movement and was a massive trust-buster. Also, he was really, really cool.
3. George Washington- Our first President who held our young nation together and set standards that future Presidents would follow.
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt- Led our country through the Great Depression and WWII. He was also elected to four terms.
1. Abraham Lincoln- Led our country through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in revolting states.
10. Grover Cleveland- He's number ten on our list because of uniqueness: he is the only President elected twice on nonconsecutive occasions and appeared on the $1,000 bill.
9. Andrew Jackson- Reduced the National Debt and was the Chuck Norris of his day.
8. Woodrow Wilson- Led the nation through WWI and signed the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
7. John Fitzgerald Kennedy- Kept our country together during our closest brush with nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also declared "Ich bin ein Berliner."
6. Ronald Reagan- Led the United States through the troubled eighties with his ability to communicate and helped to win the Cold War.
5. Thomas Jefferson- Purchased the Louisiana Territory from France and led America to victory in the First Barbary War.
4. Theodore Roosevelt- Started the modern conservation movement and was a massive trust-buster. Also, he was really, really cool.
3. George Washington- Our first President who held our young nation together and set standards that future Presidents would follow.
2. Franklin Delano Roosevelt- Led our country through the Great Depression and WWII. He was also elected to four terms.
1. Abraham Lincoln- Led our country through the Civil War and issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves in revolting states.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
90 Years Ago and Today
On this day, ninety years ago, the guns finally fell silent over Europe. Unfortunately, short-sided politicians decided that the peace was too expensive and too intrusive. America's troops and influence left the continent and Britain and France turned inward to lick their wounds. Russia was in chaos and the Middle East was carved up and the dreams of the Kurds and the Armenians were destroyed.
The sitting President, then a lame duck, attempted to persuade the other party (this time Republicans) to have the United States preserve the win that it had just earned. Instead, the United States 'came home' and decided that its involvement in the 'unnecessary war' was already too much. So we withdrew and left Germany to repair itself. The Kaiser was already gone and it was determined by oh-so-many intellectuals that our intervention was worse than anything that could come out of that poor, destroyed nation.
On January 30, 1933, we learned differently.
The sitting President, then a lame duck, attempted to persuade the other party (this time Republicans) to have the United States preserve the win that it had just earned. Instead, the United States 'came home' and decided that its involvement in the 'unnecessary war' was already too much. So we withdrew and left Germany to repair itself. The Kaiser was already gone and it was determined by oh-so-many intellectuals that our intervention was worse than anything that could come out of that poor, destroyed nation.
On January 30, 1933, we learned differently.
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