i would like to make some shoes can anyone help me with advice or details of relevent books and material suppliers
How do i make my own shoes ?
Hello,
You're certainly unique. There isn't that much information out there for consumers making their own shoes. I have to say, it is certainly going to take a lot of effort. With that said I found an illustrated site for you at http://www.shamior.co.jp/make2_e.html
I also found a book that you can purchase at:
http://www.marywalesloomis.com/
Good luck!
Reply:i didnt even think that would be possible! like for ueself unless if u have in my wooden clogs or sumthing??? i dunno that would be interested sry for no help!!! good luck with ur shoe making
Reply:go to the store.
buy a pair of nikes.
pretend u made them.
Reply:go to make your own shoes blog yahoo
Reply:Is there a college or university course for shoemaking?
Reply:Thats funny cause today (1-18-07) They had on DIYNETWORK How to make clogs. And did so .
11am . show.
Glue 4 pieces of differant wood together measureing the hight of clog you want . Have to use band saw. Cut profile then sole and heel .
Sand, tack on straps or completey cover toe area with leather .They used rubber step slides to put on sole of shoe. Looked easy and for people with high arches this is great.
Thats my next project.
Try to go back to the shoe and see if their the directions their . diynetwork.com
Reply:that will be soo hard to do! you have to have special materials and equipment to make your own shoes
Reply:I wear brown paper bags.
buying
Friday, November 6, 2009
What should I wear in the snow?
Let me put a qualifier in first thing.
I ONLY WEAR SKIRTS! So please do not reccomend pants.
I am looking for ideas on maybe what types of materials and other things you wear?
Special gloves? boots? or just regular shoes? Thermals?
Thanks for your help!
What should I wear in the snow?
Best to wear layers, since the bottom half is goiong to freeze you may as well save the top half of your body. Start with a light breathable fabric then a layer for warmth, fleece, or thermal type layer then a good winter coat. Same goes for hands, look for gloves that have a liner that you can remove. This way if your hand gets moist that layer will absorb it and the outer part of your glove will still retain warmth. I hope its not mini skirts you wear.Also yes boots are a good choice.
Reply:Angela, I am glad you are sticking by your convictions. I too only wear skirts and when we go snow tubing I wear a very long skirt, thermals (probably two if you get cold easily), two pair of socks, and snow boots. My church and I have a blast when we go. Hope you do/did too. Report It
Reply:where thin gloves
Reply:Well you should not wear skirts sking. Its a sport, not a fashion show. If you want to be mocked and made fun of by everyone else on the slopes, go ahead wear your skirt.
Reply:If you wear a skirt in the snow you are stupid.
Reply:try wearing leggings
tanning
I ONLY WEAR SKIRTS! So please do not reccomend pants.
I am looking for ideas on maybe what types of materials and other things you wear?
Special gloves? boots? or just regular shoes? Thermals?
Thanks for your help!
What should I wear in the snow?
Best to wear layers, since the bottom half is goiong to freeze you may as well save the top half of your body. Start with a light breathable fabric then a layer for warmth, fleece, or thermal type layer then a good winter coat. Same goes for hands, look for gloves that have a liner that you can remove. This way if your hand gets moist that layer will absorb it and the outer part of your glove will still retain warmth. I hope its not mini skirts you wear.Also yes boots are a good choice.
Reply:Angela, I am glad you are sticking by your convictions. I too only wear skirts and when we go snow tubing I wear a very long skirt, thermals (probably two if you get cold easily), two pair of socks, and snow boots. My church and I have a blast when we go. Hope you do/did too. Report It
Reply:where thin gloves
Reply:Well you should not wear skirts sking. Its a sport, not a fashion show. If you want to be mocked and made fun of by everyone else on the slopes, go ahead wear your skirt.
Reply:If you wear a skirt in the snow you are stupid.
Reply:try wearing leggings
tanning
Tan shoes that stain easily, how to remove the stains?
Someone owns these shoes with 'fake'or 'real'? leather.
Anyway, the color is "Tan".
If you got wet hands (not even greasy) and touch the surface of these shoes, it will stain them immediately! And it will not go away, even after days of drying.
Who knows what this material is called and how you could remove these dark "stains" from them..
Thank you.
Tan shoes that stain easily, how to remove the stains?
the best way to "clean" them is to just use either tan or neutral shoe polish %26amp; polish the whole shoe so that the shoe gets moisture evenly %26amp; it should at least make the stain much less noticeable.
Reply:The materials used to make the shoe should be listed on an inside tag somewhere....either way there are water resistant and water proof sprays and waxes that can be applied to synthetic or real leather shoes.
Reply:If these are leather they sound like Nubuck which is very absorbent and very difficult to keep clean. They need protecting with Waterstop and cleaning with a Nubuck cloth on a regular basis. Do not use anything wet on them as you have already found they absorb anything that touches them. Shoe polish will ruin them.
flower
Anyway, the color is "Tan".
If you got wet hands (not even greasy) and touch the surface of these shoes, it will stain them immediately! And it will not go away, even after days of drying.
Who knows what this material is called and how you could remove these dark "stains" from them..
Thank you.
Tan shoes that stain easily, how to remove the stains?
the best way to "clean" them is to just use either tan or neutral shoe polish %26amp; polish the whole shoe so that the shoe gets moisture evenly %26amp; it should at least make the stain much less noticeable.
Reply:The materials used to make the shoe should be listed on an inside tag somewhere....either way there are water resistant and water proof sprays and waxes that can be applied to synthetic or real leather shoes.
Reply:If these are leather they sound like Nubuck which is very absorbent and very difficult to keep clean. They need protecting with Waterstop and cleaning with a Nubuck cloth on a regular basis. Do not use anything wet on them as you have already found they absorb anything that touches them. Shoe polish will ruin them.
flower
Leather cleat repair?
I have a pair of leather Nike soccer cleats and because I pull the cleats so tight, that one of the holes where the shoe lace goes thorough has ripped so that the lace doesn't stay in it all if you pull on it even all little. And I've looked at the one too and it's beginning to rip. The outside is leather and the inside is a synthetic material. Does anyone know of any way to repair this? I can get new shoes for next season, but I have at least one or 2 more of this season and would like them to last.
Leather cleat repair?
This would be a difficult DIY repair. Check around and see if you can find a cobbler to repair your Nikes. Not many cobblers around now, but you will find them in major cities.
Best of Luck to You!
tanning
Leather cleat repair?
This would be a difficult DIY repair. Check around and see if you can find a cobbler to repair your Nikes. Not many cobblers around now, but you will find them in major cities.
Best of Luck to You!
tanning
Ballroom Shoes HURT!?
I bought a pair of ballroom shoes the other day, since I have just begun dancing this is my first pair. I have wide feet so strappy sandal type shoes didn't fit me. This is the pair I got but in 'tan' rather than black. http://www.blochworld.com/shop/p-24-issa...
They hurt so badly at the heel that I had blisters in ten minutes and this was wearing them around the house in socks. Also, at the peep toe bit, it hurts on my big toe quite badly. I have dancing tomorrow night and I want them to be comfortable since I'll be dancing for a few hours!
Anything I can do to make them more comfortable? Also, to stretch them a bit since they feel a tiny bit too tight at the front part, not too much, but yeah..
The inside as well as the bottom are suede sort of material so I can't get them wet.
Anyone had this problem or know what to do???
Any advice is welcomed!
Thanks =]
Ballroom Shoes HURT!?
I hope they can still be exchanged.
This is a common problem in today's shoes for women, made in China.
Sounds like your arch is not resting properly on the shank of the shoe, so that your foot is actually suspended from the heel to the ball of the foot. This allows your foot to slide forward and compound the problem.
Test this by standing and with your thumb, feel behind your big toe at the ball of the foot, where the vamp ends. If you feel a space and your foot is not resting solidly on the shank,
It indicates a misfit.
Only suggestion I can offer is a half size longer. Then you may need a half insole, cork, inserted under the insole of the shoe in the vamp. (glue this so not to slip). These are only about 1/8 inch in thickness. This has the effect of narrowing the width of the shoe vamp, but it will raise your foot and toes a bit higher.
You have to test it for comfort.
Your shoes at present are going to be killing on your feet to dance. You will tire easily also and may develope back pain as well. Blisters are almost assured.
If you ordered these over the net, no other suggestion.
Reply:You have to wear them until they form to your feet. Shoes are all cut the same, and until they are formed by your foot, there will be blisters and sore spots. In the meantime, you can fix the blister. Use a product called New Skin. This stuff works GREAT on blisters. It does sting for a second, but you will never know that a blister existed. As for the toes rubbing, try to put in those adhesive corn pads right above where the toe is rubbing. Trim if needed so no one will see it. They also have foot inserts to correct the problems you have. If your toe is slipping, get a ball of foot pad. This cushions and keeps the foot from slipping. Same goes for the heel. They make heel cushions, too.
sweating
They hurt so badly at the heel that I had blisters in ten minutes and this was wearing them around the house in socks. Also, at the peep toe bit, it hurts on my big toe quite badly. I have dancing tomorrow night and I want them to be comfortable since I'll be dancing for a few hours!
Anything I can do to make them more comfortable? Also, to stretch them a bit since they feel a tiny bit too tight at the front part, not too much, but yeah..
The inside as well as the bottom are suede sort of material so I can't get them wet.
Anyone had this problem or know what to do???
Any advice is welcomed!
Thanks =]
Ballroom Shoes HURT!?
I hope they can still be exchanged.
This is a common problem in today's shoes for women, made in China.
Sounds like your arch is not resting properly on the shank of the shoe, so that your foot is actually suspended from the heel to the ball of the foot. This allows your foot to slide forward and compound the problem.
Test this by standing and with your thumb, feel behind your big toe at the ball of the foot, where the vamp ends. If you feel a space and your foot is not resting solidly on the shank,
It indicates a misfit.
Only suggestion I can offer is a half size longer. Then you may need a half insole, cork, inserted under the insole of the shoe in the vamp. (glue this so not to slip). These are only about 1/8 inch in thickness. This has the effect of narrowing the width of the shoe vamp, but it will raise your foot and toes a bit higher.
You have to test it for comfort.
Your shoes at present are going to be killing on your feet to dance. You will tire easily also and may develope back pain as well. Blisters are almost assured.
If you ordered these over the net, no other suggestion.
Reply:You have to wear them until they form to your feet. Shoes are all cut the same, and until they are formed by your foot, there will be blisters and sore spots. In the meantime, you can fix the blister. Use a product called New Skin. This stuff works GREAT on blisters. It does sting for a second, but you will never know that a blister existed. As for the toes rubbing, try to put in those adhesive corn pads right above where the toe is rubbing. Trim if needed so no one will see it. They also have foot inserts to correct the problems you have. If your toe is slipping, get a ball of foot pad. This cushions and keeps the foot from slipping. Same goes for the heel. They make heel cushions, too.
sweating
Socks bunch while running. help?
When i run with any other sock other than my smallest running socks, the material under only my right foot bunches up. Could this be a shoe problem or a biomechanical problem with my running. Also what is the best socks I could use to make sure they stay in one spot.
Socks bunch while running. help?
Thin running socks are a solution. Ankle socks that are thin are the best way you can go. If they are too big, they will bunch causing discomfort. If they are too think, same problems. Some of my friends ran in peds (very small socks that you can't see with a shoe on.) If you're comfortable with a very small sock, go for it. I prefer thin ankle socks. Some have suggested that cotton are bad to run in; i would agree. They don't help with wicking the sweat away and they are more prone to give you blisters. My favorite brand is Coolmax. They're pretty easy to find; try an athletic store.
Good luck!
Reply:get tighter socks
Reply:wear ancle socks there down in the shoe and they won't bother u at all and no it's not about ur running or shoe its judt the type of socks ur wearing that's it it's not tight enough bout ancle socks kinda cling on ur feet and it makes ur feet fell comfortable i kno i run crosss country
Reply:In Japan and Hawaii we use knee high socks called loose socks and we need to use sock glue to hold it up. It holds your socks in place and washes off easily. It's only like $8 or so on online at stores selling Japanese goods.
Reply:Go to an athletic store and get athletic socks.
Reply:Get socks that come up higher than your ankle. And make sure your shoes aren't too big.
Reply:my mother used to starch my socks when I was little to keep them up. I think it's your socks that are giving you a problem.
Try a different sock and if that doesn't work try a new running shoe.
Good Luck
Reply:get more smaller socks or tighter ones
Reply:Put an elastic band that is not to tight but tight enough to keep your socks up over your sock on your ankle,,,,,i have seriously done this before so dont laugh:Pit works
Reply:I have small feet and had this problem until I started buy - no lie - children's socks. They actually FIT my feet and didn't give me the "Sizes 4-11" junk that most socks do. Now my socks don't bunch. If you have small feet, try smaller socks!
Good luck!
Reply:try putting a bunch of powder in ur shoe and running without socks. the powder would keep u from blistering and ur shoes and feet from stinking
Reply:Sounds like it's time for some brand new socks! Maybe Hanes!
Reply:Get socks that fit - the main reason for stuff like that and calluses, etc is socks that aren't the right size. Cotton socks tend to keep the sweat with your feet, so get one that's made for running (it'll usually specify on the package). They're a little more costly, but way worth it.
Reply:The tighter the sock and your shoe, the better. I'd recommend getting the very short cut athletic socks. Under Armour has some very good socks out. They're pricey but good quality. They feel great and keep your feet dry, and I've never had any problems with bunching
You could also try getting some athletic tape/wrap and tying it tightly around your ankle, just under the top of the sock. That would certainly help.
maintenance repairs
Socks bunch while running. help?
Thin running socks are a solution. Ankle socks that are thin are the best way you can go. If they are too big, they will bunch causing discomfort. If they are too think, same problems. Some of my friends ran in peds (very small socks that you can't see with a shoe on.) If you're comfortable with a very small sock, go for it. I prefer thin ankle socks. Some have suggested that cotton are bad to run in; i would agree. They don't help with wicking the sweat away and they are more prone to give you blisters. My favorite brand is Coolmax. They're pretty easy to find; try an athletic store.
Good luck!
Reply:get tighter socks
Reply:wear ancle socks there down in the shoe and they won't bother u at all and no it's not about ur running or shoe its judt the type of socks ur wearing that's it it's not tight enough bout ancle socks kinda cling on ur feet and it makes ur feet fell comfortable i kno i run crosss country
Reply:In Japan and Hawaii we use knee high socks called loose socks and we need to use sock glue to hold it up. It holds your socks in place and washes off easily. It's only like $8 or so on online at stores selling Japanese goods.
Reply:Go to an athletic store and get athletic socks.
Reply:Get socks that come up higher than your ankle. And make sure your shoes aren't too big.
Reply:my mother used to starch my socks when I was little to keep them up. I think it's your socks that are giving you a problem.
Try a different sock and if that doesn't work try a new running shoe.
Good Luck
Reply:get more smaller socks or tighter ones
Reply:Put an elastic band that is not to tight but tight enough to keep your socks up over your sock on your ankle,,,,,i have seriously done this before so dont laugh:Pit works
Reply:I have small feet and had this problem until I started buy - no lie - children's socks. They actually FIT my feet and didn't give me the "Sizes 4-11" junk that most socks do. Now my socks don't bunch. If you have small feet, try smaller socks!
Good luck!
Reply:try putting a bunch of powder in ur shoe and running without socks. the powder would keep u from blistering and ur shoes and feet from stinking
Reply:Sounds like it's time for some brand new socks! Maybe Hanes!
Reply:Get socks that fit - the main reason for stuff like that and calluses, etc is socks that aren't the right size. Cotton socks tend to keep the sweat with your feet, so get one that's made for running (it'll usually specify on the package). They're a little more costly, but way worth it.
Reply:The tighter the sock and your shoe, the better. I'd recommend getting the very short cut athletic socks. Under Armour has some very good socks out. They're pricey but good quality. They feel great and keep your feet dry, and I've never had any problems with bunching
You could also try getting some athletic tape/wrap and tying it tightly around your ankle, just under the top of the sock. That would certainly help.
maintenance repairs
What do you think Of this? Reguarding Iraq?
I think It very likely!!Written by Raymond S. Kraft
This is HISTORY THAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF OUR TEXTBOOKS. MANY OF YOU ARE
NOT OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THAT NEARLY EVERY FAMILY IN AMERICA WAS
GROSSLY AFFECTED BY WWII. MANY OF YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE RATIONING OF
MEAT, SHOES, GASOLINE, AND SUGAR. NO TIRES FOR OUR AUTOMOBILES, AND A
SPEED LIMIT OF 35 MILES AN HOUR ON THE ROAD. NOT TO MENTION, NO NEW
AUTOMOBILES. READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE WOULD REACT TO BEING TAKEN
OVER BY FOREIGNERS.
-----
Historical Significance:
Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and
hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk
more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England
and America for food and war materials.
At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most
Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war.
Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage
Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and the following day on
Germany , which had not yet attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had
few allies.
France was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly
aligned itself with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an
ally, as Hitler was intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in
Europe . Japan was not an ally, as it was well on its way to owning and
controlling all of Asia . Together, Japan and Germany had long-range
plans of invading Canada and Mexico , as launching pads to get into the
United States over our northern and southern borders, after they
finished gaining control of Asia and Europe . America 's only allies then
were England , Ireland , Scotland , Canada , Australia , and Russia . That was
about it. All of Europe, from Norway to Italy , except Russia in the
East, was already under the Nazi heel.
America was certainly not prepared for war. America had drastically
downgraded most of its military forces after W.W.I and throughout the
depression, so that at the outbreak of WW2, army units were training
with broomsticks because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank"
painted on the doors because they didn't have real tanks. And a huge
chunk of our navy had just been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor .
Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600
million in gold bullion in the Bank of England, that was actually the
property of Belgium , given by Belgium to England to carry on the war
when Belgium was overrun by Hitler (a little known fact). Actually,
Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the
German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next
day just to prove they could. Britain had already been holding out for
two years in the face of staggering losses and the near decimation of
its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun
by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits
were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later, and first
turning his attention to Russia , at a time when England was on the
vergeof collapse, in the late summer of 1940.
Ironically, Russia saved America 's butt by putting up a desperate fight
for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at
Germany .
Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad
and Moscow alone... 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly
civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers.
Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire
war effort against the Brits, then America . And the Nazis could possibly
have won the war.
All of this is to illustrate that turning points in history are often
dicey things. And now, we find ourselves at another one of those key
moments in history.
There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants
and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or
chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world.
The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs --
they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam,
should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe , then the
world. And that all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be
killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust,
destroy Israel , and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra.
There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part
not a hot war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and
its Reformation, but it is not known yet which will win -- the
Inquisitors, or the Reformationists.
If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control
the Middle East, the OPEC oil, and the US , European, and Asian
economies. The techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC
-- not an OPEC dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but
an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis. You want gas in your car? You want
heating oil next winter? You want the dollar to be worth anything? You
better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic
Reformation wins.
If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who
believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in
peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into
the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade
away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.
We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the
Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the
Islamic terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. And we can't do
it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a
time and place of our choosing........in Iraq .
Not in New York , not in London , or Paris or Berlin , but in Iraq , where
we are doing two important things.
(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly
involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively
supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is a terrorist.
Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for
the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million
Iranians.
(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic
terrorism in Iraq . We have focused the battle. We are killing bad
people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also
have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq , which will be
a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East , and an
outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East
for as long as it is needed.
World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began
with a "whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor . It began
with the Japanese invasion of China . It was a war for fourteen years
before America joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year war
-- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and
Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own
again ... a 27 year war.
World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a
full year's GDP -- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion
dollars. W.W.II cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and
nearly 100,000 still missing in action.
The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion, which is
roughly what 9/11 cost New York . It has also cost about 3,000 American
lives, which is roughly EQUAL TO the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed
on 9/11. But the cost of not fighting and winning W.W.II would have been
unimaginably greater -- a world dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.
This is not 60 minute TV shows, and 2 hour movies in which everything
comes out okay.
The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes
bloody and ugly. Always has been, and probably always will be.
The bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism
until we defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore
it.
If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq , then we
have an " England " in the Middle East , a platform, from which we can work
to help modernize and moderate the Middle East . The history of the
world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and
civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates. The Iraq war is
merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war. And now, for
the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons.
Unless somebody prevents them.
We have four options:
1. We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons.
2. We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which
may be as early as next year, if Iran 's progress on nuclear weapons is
what Iran claims it is)
3. We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle
East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in
America .
4. Or, we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad
is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has
dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe . It
will, of course, be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier.
If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or
grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the
Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes,
cultural clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and
civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists
always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
Remember, perspective is every thing, and America 's schools teach too
little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young
American mind.
The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came
down in 1989. Forty-two years. Europe spent the first half of the 19th
century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany
World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation,
and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan . World War II resulted
in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million
people, depending on which estimates you accept.
The US has taken more than 3,000 killed in action in Iraq . The US took
more than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the
first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism.
In W.W.II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of
the individual battles of W.W.II lost more Americans than the entire
Iraq war has done so far.
But the stakes are at least as high ... A world dominated by
representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal
freedoms .. or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement,
by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).
It's difficult to understand why the American left does not grasp this.
They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but
evidently not for Iraqis.
"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America , where it's
safe.
Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran , Syria , Iraq ,
Sudan , North Korea , in the places that really need peace activism the
most?
The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins,
wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.
Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side
of their own worst enemy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...
Raymond S. Kraft is a writer living in Northern California
Note: forwarded message attached.
Written by Raymond S. Kraft
This is HISTORY THAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF OUR TEXTBOOKS. MANY OF YOU ARE
NOT OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THAT NEARLY EVERY FAMILY IN AMERICA WAS
GROSSLY AFFECTED BY WWII. MANY OF YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE RATIONING OF
MEAT, SHOES, GASOLINE, AND SUGAR. NO TIRES FOR OUR AUTOMOBILES, AND A
SPEED LIMIT OF 35 MILES AN HOUR ON THE ROAD. NOT TO MENTION, NO NEW
AUTOMOBILES. READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE WOULD REACT TO BEING TAKEN
OVER BY FOREIGNERS.
-----
Historical Significance:
Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and
hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk
more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England
and America for food and war materials.
At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most
Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war.
Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage
Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and the following day on
Germany , which had not yet attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had
few allies.
France was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly
aligned itself with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an
ally, as Hitler was intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in
Europe . Japan was not an ally, as it was well on its way to owning and
controlling all of Asia . Together, Japan and Germany had long-range
plans of invading Canada and Mexico , as launching pads to get into the
United States over our northern and southern borders, after they
finished gaining control of Asia and Europe . America 's only allies then
were England , Ireland , Scotland , Canada , Australia , and Russia . That was
about it. All of Europe, from Norway to Italy , except Russia in the
East, was already under the Nazi heel.
America was certainly not prepared for war. America had drastically
downgraded most of its military forces after W.W.I and throughout the
depression, so that at the outbreak of WW2, army units were training
with broomsticks because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank"
painted on the doors because they didn't have real tanks. And a huge
chunk of our navy had just been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor .
Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600
million in gold bullion in the Bank of England, that was actually the
property of Belgium , given by Belgium to England to carry on the war
when Belgium was overrun by Hitler (a little known fact). Actually,
Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the
German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next
day just to prove they could. Britain had already been holding out for
two years in the face of staggering losses and the near decimation of
its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun
by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits
were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later, and first
turning his attention to Russia , at a time when England was on the
vergeof collapse, in the late summer of 1940.
Ironically, Russia saved America 's butt by putting up a desperate fight
for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at
Germany .
Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad
and Moscow alone... 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly
civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers.
Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire
war effort against the Brits, then America . And the Nazis could possibly
have won the war.
All of this is to illustrate that turning points in history are often
dicey things. And now, we find ourselves at another one of those key
moments in history.
There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants
and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or
chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world.
The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs --
they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam,
should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe , then the
world. And that all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be
killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust,
destroy Israel , and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra.
There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part
not a hot war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and
its Reformation, but it is not known yet which will win -- the
Inquisitors, or the Reformationists.
If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control
the Middle East, the OPEC oil, and the US , European, and Asian
economies. The techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC
-- not an OPEC dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but
an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis. You want gas in your car? You want
heating oil next winter? You want the dollar to be worth anything? You
better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic
Reformation wins.
If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who
believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in
peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into
the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade
away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.
We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the
Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the
Islamic terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. And we can't do
it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a
time and place of our choosing........in Iraq .
Not in New York , not in London , or Paris or Berlin , but in Iraq , where
we are doing two important things.
(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly
involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively
supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is a terrorist.
Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for
the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million
Iranians.
(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic
terrorism in Iraq . We have focused the battle. We are killing bad
people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also
have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq , which will be
a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East , and an
outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East
for as long as it is needed.
World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began
with a "whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor . It began
with the Japanese invasion of China . It was a war for fourteen years
before America joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year war
-- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and
Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own
again ... a 27 year war.
World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a
full year's GDP -- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion
dollars. W.W.II cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and
nearly 100,000 still missing in action.
The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion, which is
roughly what 9/11 cost New York . It has also cost about 3,000 American
lives, which is roughly EQUAL TO the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed
on 9/11. But the cost of not fighting and winning W.W.II would have been
unimaginably greater -- a world dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.
This is not 60 minute TV shows, and 2 hour movies in which everything
comes out okay.
The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes
bloody and ugly. Always has been, and probably always will be.
The bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism
until we defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore
it.
If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq , then we
have an " England " in the Middle East , a platform, from which we can work
to help modernize and moderate the Middle East . The history of the
world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and
civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates. The Iraq war is
merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war. And now, for
the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons.
Unless somebody prevents them.
We have four options:
1. We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons.
2. We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which
may be as early as next year, if Iran 's progress on nuclear weapons is
what Iran claims it is)
3. We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle
East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in
America .
4. Or, we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad
is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has
dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe . It
will, of course, be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier.
If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or
grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the
Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes,
cultural clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and
civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists
always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
Remember, perspective is every thing, and America 's schools teach too
little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young
American mind.
The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came
down in 1989. Forty-two years. Europe spent the first half of the 19th
century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany
World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation,
and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan . World War II resulted
in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million
people, depending on which estimates you accept.
The US has taken more than 3,000 killed in action in Iraq . The US took
more than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the
first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism.
In W.W.II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of
the individual battles of W.W.II lost more Americans than the entire
Iraq war has done so far.
But the stakes are at least as high ... A world dominated by
representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal
freedoms .. or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement,
by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).
It's difficult to understand why the American left does not grasp this.
They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but
evidently not for Iraqis.
"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America , where it's
safe.
Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran , Syria , Iraq ,
Sudan , North Korea , in the places that really need peace activism the
most?
The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins,
wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.
Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side
of their own worst enemy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...
Raymond S. Kraft is a writer living in Northern California
Note: forwarded message attached.
What do you think Of this? Reguarding Iraq?
Good stuff. reasonably accurate, except that we still have troops in Japan and Germany to this day.
We also have troops in Korea.
I say we set a time table for withdrawal from Iraq consistent with the time table we set with Germany and Japan. Right after we withdrawal from Germany and Japan we can withdrawal from Korea and then after the same amount of time, Iraq.
Withdrawal ooks to be about 70 to 80 years down the road.
Reply:Where have been Mr. John_d_ayer? What a great answer. It is so true. War is killing us in terms of economy, socially, mentally, nationally and humanly. We sure are slow to learn.
But thanks for the information and insight. Report It
Reply:If I wanted to read a book Id go to the library. The war was just and God help us if we dont succeed over there.
Reply:I guess the word "diplomacy" is not in your vocabulary. It does require finesse and understanding, though, which this author lacks in abundance.
Listen here: the whole world was on our side after 9/11, and was still on our side after we appropriately went into Afghanistan where most of al Qaeda was operating. Then along comes our president-by-fraud George W. Bush to invade *the wrong country*, getting us into a pointless war that has only served to piss off the entire world and played right into the hands of the jihadists, who would probably be blowing up more people than they already are if they weren't constantly falling down laughing uncontrollably at how STUPID the Americans are!
If you don't get by now that the neo-cons' real agenda is the END of democracy and a return to economic feudalism, then you yourself are one of their dupes, happily voting for "family values" while they continue to undermine your rights and steal your wealth. Creating a bogeyman like the jihadists fits right into their plan - Hitler did it with Jews and it worked for him.
The only thing I agree with you about is that Islamic fundamentalists are a definite threat to the world, as are Christian fundamentalists and Orthodox Jews. They're all certifiable lunatics, and when they have access to enough power they will kill you to prove it.
There are better ways to control religious nuts than to destroy an entire country, including a large number of its civilians, and that is to extend opportunity to as many people as possible, as used to be done in America. Step one of that process is to stop supporting dictatorships around the world the way Washington and corporate America have been doing since WW II and earlier. All we have to do, really, is to stop buying oil from the Middle East and the jihadists will eventually fade back into the desert and return to killing each other in the name of "family honor."
Reply:This is HOGWASH. Iraq does not have designs on World domination. The Bush regime and the Republic Party does not want to capture their old family friend Bin Laden. The Iraq incursion was based on lies about WMD and actually has more to do with the attempt by Hussein to bomb the elder Bush after Gulf 1. The Bush group committed treason in "outing" an active undercover CIA agent. Their knee-jerk reaction to anything they don't want to hear is to lie. By the way, some sources are now saying that D-day Iran is April 17th.Sounds a little extreme, but this is the same source that told me almost 3 months before the "surge" that the number would be 30,000 troops, I thought "see the source was wrong,they only sent 21,000",then they decided to send another 8,000. It's getting close to 30,000. All this happen when they were still denying that there would be a surge. Same source says that George is back on the sauce and Laura spends most of her time living in a hotel. People who proclaim that anti war Americans are traitors seem to forget that America is all about the Constitution. Which by the way is being undermined by the very people we elected(or did we) to protect it. And 1 American soldier is too many to loose to "liberate" a country that's involved in a deep civil and religious war that will never end. If justice for 9/11 is our aim,then let's find Osama and try him in a World Court. I'd love to see Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeldt before the same Tribunal,they are all criminals.
Reply:Ever heard of using a link?
Reply:Congratulations on the longest question I've ever seen on Yahoo Answers. Unfortunately I don't have time to read it.
Reply:I agree with you but what is the question?
Reply:If you're going to cut and paste a long ramble, at least edit it to be more readble.
Better yet, just post a 1-paragraph summary, and link to the original long text.
And try actually asking a question.
Reply:"Raymond S. Kraft" is full of s**t.
Reply:Hay Ray you didn't cover how the Nazis were backed by the Kennedy Family,(Ambassador to England and sales rep to IBM Joe Kennedy) and that IBM was significant in keeping tract of how the Jews were dealt with. I cant believe that being from the rewrites history capital of the world that you were able to come up with so much accuracy. I find that if you want to learn in America now days you must get off the "drive by" media central. You should look into what Diane Finestine and her husband have been up to, lining their pockets with Defense Contracts through companies owned by her husband, of which a whopping 34% were approved without competitive bidding. Including A curtain hospital that was deemed uninhabitable by the health department.
Reply:Sure - thanks for the nut warmonger side of "history". Comparing Nazi Germany to a few religious suiciders living in mud huts on the other side of the world is irrational.
Reply:This is not a question it is a diatribe.
USA has faced real, worse threats and emerged victorious without unjustified invasions and dumping our most dear constitutional principles.
If we pursue the whoevers the way you all want to, "it is the end of civil rights, hguman rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc"
Slow down, take a deep breath, stop trying to romanticize this into being more than a bunch of thugs scaring the crap out of the rest of the world.
Reply:Thank you Raymond for the History Lesson. I really learned so much from you today. Very good historical analysis also I found in above facts. Well, history is one thing and our present time in another. I think you are consumed with history so much and not in touch with the real world. Your concerns are misplaced and lost in history. You are well informed about historical facts, but you need to brush up and get in touch with the real world. Thanks again.
Reply:He is absolutely right.
The world itself is at stake.
World Domination is their goal.
Reply:You are not asking a question, but rather are posting the blathering of someone who takes endless words to make a point. I think that this is a gross waste of time and space, and does little to promote discussion or rational thought on the problems caused by our occupation of Iraq in the middle of their civil war.
aircraft
This is HISTORY THAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF OUR TEXTBOOKS. MANY OF YOU ARE
NOT OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THAT NEARLY EVERY FAMILY IN AMERICA WAS
GROSSLY AFFECTED BY WWII. MANY OF YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE RATIONING OF
MEAT, SHOES, GASOLINE, AND SUGAR. NO TIRES FOR OUR AUTOMOBILES, AND A
SPEED LIMIT OF 35 MILES AN HOUR ON THE ROAD. NOT TO MENTION, NO NEW
AUTOMOBILES. READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE WOULD REACT TO BEING TAKEN
OVER BY FOREIGNERS.
-----
Historical Significance:
Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and
hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk
more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England
and America for food and war materials.
At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most
Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war.
Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage
Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and the following day on
Germany , which had not yet attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had
few allies.
France was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly
aligned itself with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an
ally, as Hitler was intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in
Europe . Japan was not an ally, as it was well on its way to owning and
controlling all of Asia . Together, Japan and Germany had long-range
plans of invading Canada and Mexico , as launching pads to get into the
United States over our northern and southern borders, after they
finished gaining control of Asia and Europe . America 's only allies then
were England , Ireland , Scotland , Canada , Australia , and Russia . That was
about it. All of Europe, from Norway to Italy , except Russia in the
East, was already under the Nazi heel.
America was certainly not prepared for war. America had drastically
downgraded most of its military forces after W.W.I and throughout the
depression, so that at the outbreak of WW2, army units were training
with broomsticks because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank"
painted on the doors because they didn't have real tanks. And a huge
chunk of our navy had just been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor .
Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600
million in gold bullion in the Bank of England, that was actually the
property of Belgium , given by Belgium to England to carry on the war
when Belgium was overrun by Hitler (a little known fact). Actually,
Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the
German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next
day just to prove they could. Britain had already been holding out for
two years in the face of staggering losses and the near decimation of
its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun
by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits
were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later, and first
turning his attention to Russia , at a time when England was on the
vergeof collapse, in the late summer of 1940.
Ironically, Russia saved America 's butt by putting up a desperate fight
for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at
Germany .
Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad
and Moscow alone... 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly
civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers.
Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire
war effort against the Brits, then America . And the Nazis could possibly
have won the war.
All of this is to illustrate that turning points in history are often
dicey things. And now, we find ourselves at another one of those key
moments in history.
There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants
and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or
chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world.
The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs --
they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam,
should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe , then the
world. And that all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be
killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust,
destroy Israel , and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra.
There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part
not a hot war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and
its Reformation, but it is not known yet which will win -- the
Inquisitors, or the Reformationists.
If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control
the Middle East, the OPEC oil, and the US , European, and Asian
economies. The techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC
-- not an OPEC dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but
an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis. You want gas in your car? You want
heating oil next winter? You want the dollar to be worth anything? You
better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic
Reformation wins.
If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who
believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in
peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into
the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade
away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.
We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the
Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the
Islamic terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. And we can't do
it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a
time and place of our choosing........in Iraq .
Not in New York , not in London , or Paris or Berlin , but in Iraq , where
we are doing two important things.
(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly
involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively
supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is a terrorist.
Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for
the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million
Iranians.
(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic
terrorism in Iraq . We have focused the battle. We are killing bad
people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also
have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq , which will be
a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East , and an
outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East
for as long as it is needed.
World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began
with a "whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor . It began
with the Japanese invasion of China . It was a war for fourteen years
before America joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year war
-- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and
Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own
again ... a 27 year war.
World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a
full year's GDP -- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion
dollars. W.W.II cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and
nearly 100,000 still missing in action.
The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion, which is
roughly what 9/11 cost New York . It has also cost about 3,000 American
lives, which is roughly EQUAL TO the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed
on 9/11. But the cost of not fighting and winning W.W.II would have been
unimaginably greater -- a world dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.
This is not 60 minute TV shows, and 2 hour movies in which everything
comes out okay.
The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes
bloody and ugly. Always has been, and probably always will be.
The bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism
until we defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore
it.
If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq , then we
have an " England " in the Middle East , a platform, from which we can work
to help modernize and moderate the Middle East . The history of the
world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and
civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates. The Iraq war is
merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war. And now, for
the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons.
Unless somebody prevents them.
We have four options:
1. We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons.
2. We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which
may be as early as next year, if Iran 's progress on nuclear weapons is
what Iran claims it is)
3. We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle
East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in
America .
4. Or, we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad
is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has
dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe . It
will, of course, be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier.
If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or
grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the
Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes,
cultural clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and
civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists
always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
Remember, perspective is every thing, and America 's schools teach too
little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young
American mind.
The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came
down in 1989. Forty-two years. Europe spent the first half of the 19th
century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany
World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation,
and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan . World War II resulted
in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million
people, depending on which estimates you accept.
The US has taken more than 3,000 killed in action in Iraq . The US took
more than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the
first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism.
In W.W.II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of
the individual battles of W.W.II lost more Americans than the entire
Iraq war has done so far.
But the stakes are at least as high ... A world dominated by
representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal
freedoms .. or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement,
by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).
It's difficult to understand why the American left does not grasp this.
They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but
evidently not for Iraqis.
"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America , where it's
safe.
Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran , Syria , Iraq ,
Sudan , North Korea , in the places that really need peace activism the
most?
The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins,
wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.
Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side
of their own worst enemy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...
Raymond S. Kraft is a writer living in Northern California
Note: forwarded message attached.
Written by Raymond S. Kraft
This is HISTORY THAT HAS BEEN LEFT OUT OF OUR TEXTBOOKS. MANY OF YOU ARE
NOT OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THAT NEARLY EVERY FAMILY IN AMERICA WAS
GROSSLY AFFECTED BY WWII. MANY OF YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE RATIONING OF
MEAT, SHOES, GASOLINE, AND SUGAR. NO TIRES FOR OUR AUTOMOBILES, AND A
SPEED LIMIT OF 35 MILES AN HOUR ON THE ROAD. NOT TO MENTION, NO NEW
AUTOMOBILES. READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE WOULD REACT TO BEING TAKEN
OVER BY FOREIGNERS.
-----
Historical Significance:
Sixty-three years ago, Nazi Germany had overrun almost all of Europe and
hammered England to the verge of bankruptcy and defeat, and had sunk
more than four hundred British ships in their convoys between England
and America for food and war materials.
At that time the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most
Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war.
Then along came Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and in outrage
Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and the following day on
Germany , which had not yet attacked us. It was a dicey thing. We had
few allies.
France was not an ally, as the Vichy government of France quickly
aligned itself with its German occupiers. Germany was certainly not an
ally, as Hitler was intent on setting up a Thousand Year Reich in
Europe . Japan was not an ally, as it was well on its way to owning and
controlling all of Asia . Together, Japan and Germany had long-range
plans of invading Canada and Mexico , as launching pads to get into the
United States over our northern and southern borders, after they
finished gaining control of Asia and Europe . America 's only allies then
were England , Ireland , Scotland , Canada , Australia , and Russia . That was
about it. All of Europe, from Norway to Italy , except Russia in the
East, was already under the Nazi heel.
America was certainly not prepared for war. America had drastically
downgraded most of its military forces after W.W.I and throughout the
depression, so that at the outbreak of WW2, army units were training
with broomsticks because they didn't have guns, and cars with "tank"
painted on the doors because they didn't have real tanks. And a huge
chunk of our navy had just been sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor .
Britain had already gone bankrupt, saved only by the donation of $600
million in gold bullion in the Bank of England, that was actually the
property of Belgium , given by Belgium to England to carry on the war
when Belgium was overrun by Hitler (a little known fact). Actually,
Belgium surrendered on one day, because it was unable to oppose the
German invasion, and the Germans bombed Brussels into rubble the next
day just to prove they could. Britain had already been holding out for
two years in the face of staggering losses and the near decimation of
its air force in the Battle of Britain, and was saved from being overrun
by Germany only because Hitler made the mistake of thinking the Brits
were a relatively minor threat that could be dealt with later, and first
turning his attention to Russia , at a time when England was on the
vergeof collapse, in the late summer of 1940.
Ironically, Russia saved America 's butt by putting up a desperate fight
for two years, until the US got geared up to begin hammering away at
Germany .
Russia lost something like 24 million people in the sieges of Stalingrad
and Moscow alone... 90% of them from cold and starvation, mostly
civilians, but also more than a 1,000,000 soldiers.
Had Russia surrendered, Hitler would have been able to focus his entire
war effort against the Brits, then America . And the Nazis could possibly
have won the war.
All of this is to illustrate that turning points in history are often
dicey things. And now, we find ourselves at another one of those key
moments in history.
There is a very dangerous minority in Islam that either has, or wants
and may soon have, the ability to deliver small nuclear, biological, or
chemical weapons, almost anywhere in the world.
The Jihadis, the militant Muslims, are basically Nazis in Kaffiyahs --
they believe that Islam, a radically conservative form of Wahhabi Islam,
should own and control the Middle East first, then Europe , then the
world. And that all who do not bow to their will of thinking should be
killed, enslaved, or subjugated. They want to finish the Holocaust,
destroy Israel , and purge the world of Jews. This is their mantra.
There is also a civil war raging in the Middle East -- for the most part
not a hot war, but a war of ideas. Islam is having its Inquisition and
its Reformation, but it is not known yet which will win -- the
Inquisitors, or the Reformationists.
If the Inquisition wins, then the Wahhabis, the Jihadis, will control
the Middle East, the OPEC oil, and the US , European, and Asian
economies. The techno-industrial economies will be at the mercy of OPEC
-- not an OPEC dominated by the educated, rational Saudis of today, but
an OPEC dominated by the Jihadis. You want gas in your car? You want
heating oil next winter? You want the dollar to be worth anything? You
better hope the Jihad, the Muslim Inquisition, loses, and the Islamic
Reformation wins.
If the Reformation movement wins, that is, the moderate Muslims who
believe that Islam can respect and tolerate other religions, and live in
peace with the rest of the world, and move out of the 10th century into
the 21st, then the troubles in the Middle East will eventually fade
away, and a moderate and prosperous Middle East will emerge.
We have to help the Reformation win, and to do that we have to fight the
Inquisition, i.e., the Wahhabi movement, the Jihad, Al Qaeda and the
Islamic terrorist movements. We have to do it somewhere. And we can't do
it everywhere at once. We have created a focal point for the battle at a
time and place of our choosing........in Iraq .
Not in New York , not in London , or Paris or Berlin , but in Iraq , where
we are doing two important things.
(1) We deposed Saddam Hussein. Whether Saddam Hussein was directly
involved in 9/11 or not, it is undisputed that Saddam has been actively
supporting the terrorist movement for decades. Saddam is a terrorist.
Saddam is, or was, a weapon of mass destruction, who is responsible for
the deaths of probably more than a million Iraqis and two million
Iranians.
(2) We created a battle, a confrontation, a flash point, with Islamic
terrorism in Iraq . We have focused the battle. We are killing bad
people, and the ones we get there we won't have to get here. We also
have a good shot at creating a democratic, peaceful Iraq , which will be
a catalyst for democratic change in the rest of the Middle East , and an
outpost for a stabilizing American military presence in the Middle East
for as long as it is needed.
World War II, the war with the German and Japanese Nazis, really began
with a "whimper" in 1928. It did not begin with Pearl Harbor . It began
with the Japanese invasion of China . It was a war for fourteen years
before America joined it. It officially ended in 1945 -- a 17 year war
-- and was followed by another decade of US occupation in Germany and
Japan to get those countries reconstructed and running on their own
again ... a 27 year war.
World War II cost the United States an amount equal to approximately a
full year's GDP -- adjusted for inflation, equal to about $12 trillion
dollars. W.W.II cost America more than 400,000 killed in action, and
nearly 100,000 still missing in action.
The Iraq war has, so far, cost the US about $160 billion, which is
roughly what 9/11 cost New York . It has also cost about 3,000 American
lives, which is roughly EQUAL TO the 3,000 lives that the Jihad snuffed
on 9/11. But the cost of not fighting and winning W.W.II would have been
unimaginably greater -- a world dominated by German and Japanese Nazism.
This is not 60 minute TV shows, and 2 hour movies in which everything
comes out okay.
The real world is not like that. It is messy, uncertain, and sometimes
bloody and ugly. Always has been, and probably always will be.
The bottom line is that we will have to deal with Islamic terrorism
until we defeat it, whenever that is. It will not go away if we ignore
it.
If the US can create a reasonably democratic and stable Iraq , then we
have an " England " in the Middle East , a platform, from which we can work
to help modernize and moderate the Middle East . The history of the
world is the clash between the forces of relative civility and
civilization, and the barbarians clamoring at the gates. The Iraq war is
merely another battle in this ancient and never ending war. And now, for
the first time ever, the barbarians are about to get nuclear weapons.
Unless somebody prevents them.
We have four options:
1. We can defeat the Jihad now, before it gets nuclear weapons.
2. We can fight the Jihad later, after it gets nuclear weapons (which
may be as early as next year, if Iran 's progress on nuclear weapons is
what Iran claims it is)
3. We can surrender to the Jihad and accept its dominance in the Middle
East, now, in Europe in the next few years or decades, and ultimately in
America .
4. Or, we can stand down now, and pick up the fight later when the Jihad
is more widespread and better armed, perhaps after the Jihad has
dominated France and Germany and maybe most of the rest of Europe . It
will, of course, be more dangerous, more expensive, and much bloodier.
If you oppose this war, I hope you like the idea that your children, or
grandchildren, may live in an Islamic America under the Mullahs and the
Sharia, an America that resembles Iran today.
The history of the world is the history of civilizational clashes,
cultural clashes. All wars are about ideas, ideas about what society and
civilization should be like, and the most determined always win.
Those who are willing to be the most ruthless always win. The pacifists
always lose, because the anti-pacifists kill them.
Remember, perspective is every thing, and America 's schools teach too
little history for perspective to be clear, especially in the young
American mind.
The Cold war lasted from about 1947 at least until the Berlin Wall came
down in 1989. Forty-two years. Europe spent the first half of the 19th
century fighting Napoleon, and from 1870 to 1945 fighting Germany
World War II began in 1928, lasted 17 years, plus a ten year occupation,
and the US still has troops in Germany and Japan . World War II resulted
in the death of more than 50 million people, maybe more than 100 million
people, depending on which estimates you accept.
The US has taken more than 3,000 killed in action in Iraq . The US took
more than 4,000 killed in action on the morning of June 6, 1944, the
first day of the Normandy Invasion to rid Europe of Nazi Imperialism.
In W.W.II the US averaged 2,000 KIA a week -- for four years. Most of
the individual battles of W.W.II lost more Americans than the entire
Iraq war has done so far.
But the stakes are at least as high ... A world dominated by
representative governments with civil rights, human rights, and personal
freedoms .. or a world dominated by a radical Islamic Wahhabi movement,
by the Jihad, under the Mullahs and the Sharia (Islamic law).
It's difficult to understand why the American left does not grasp this.
They favor human rights, civil rights, liberty and freedom, but
evidently not for Iraqis.
"Peace Activists" always seem to demonstrate here in America , where it's
safe.
Why don't we see Peace Activist demonstrating in Iran , Syria , Iraq ,
Sudan , North Korea , in the places that really need peace activism the
most?
The liberal mentality is supposed to favor human rights, civil rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc., but if the Jihad wins,
wherever the Jihad wins, it is the end of civil rights, human rights,
democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc.
Americans who oppose the liberation of Iraq are coming down on the side
of their own worst enemy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...
Raymond S. Kraft is a writer living in Northern California
Note: forwarded message attached.
What do you think Of this? Reguarding Iraq?
Good stuff. reasonably accurate, except that we still have troops in Japan and Germany to this day.
We also have troops in Korea.
I say we set a time table for withdrawal from Iraq consistent with the time table we set with Germany and Japan. Right after we withdrawal from Germany and Japan we can withdrawal from Korea and then after the same amount of time, Iraq.
Withdrawal ooks to be about 70 to 80 years down the road.
Reply:Where have been Mr. John_d_ayer? What a great answer. It is so true. War is killing us in terms of economy, socially, mentally, nationally and humanly. We sure are slow to learn.
But thanks for the information and insight. Report It
Reply:If I wanted to read a book Id go to the library. The war was just and God help us if we dont succeed over there.
Reply:I guess the word "diplomacy" is not in your vocabulary. It does require finesse and understanding, though, which this author lacks in abundance.
Listen here: the whole world was on our side after 9/11, and was still on our side after we appropriately went into Afghanistan where most of al Qaeda was operating. Then along comes our president-by-fraud George W. Bush to invade *the wrong country*, getting us into a pointless war that has only served to piss off the entire world and played right into the hands of the jihadists, who would probably be blowing up more people than they already are if they weren't constantly falling down laughing uncontrollably at how STUPID the Americans are!
If you don't get by now that the neo-cons' real agenda is the END of democracy and a return to economic feudalism, then you yourself are one of their dupes, happily voting for "family values" while they continue to undermine your rights and steal your wealth. Creating a bogeyman like the jihadists fits right into their plan - Hitler did it with Jews and it worked for him.
The only thing I agree with you about is that Islamic fundamentalists are a definite threat to the world, as are Christian fundamentalists and Orthodox Jews. They're all certifiable lunatics, and when they have access to enough power they will kill you to prove it.
There are better ways to control religious nuts than to destroy an entire country, including a large number of its civilians, and that is to extend opportunity to as many people as possible, as used to be done in America. Step one of that process is to stop supporting dictatorships around the world the way Washington and corporate America have been doing since WW II and earlier. All we have to do, really, is to stop buying oil from the Middle East and the jihadists will eventually fade back into the desert and return to killing each other in the name of "family honor."
Reply:This is HOGWASH. Iraq does not have designs on World domination. The Bush regime and the Republic Party does not want to capture their old family friend Bin Laden. The Iraq incursion was based on lies about WMD and actually has more to do with the attempt by Hussein to bomb the elder Bush after Gulf 1. The Bush group committed treason in "outing" an active undercover CIA agent. Their knee-jerk reaction to anything they don't want to hear is to lie. By the way, some sources are now saying that D-day Iran is April 17th.Sounds a little extreme, but this is the same source that told me almost 3 months before the "surge" that the number would be 30,000 troops, I thought "see the source was wrong,they only sent 21,000",then they decided to send another 8,000. It's getting close to 30,000. All this happen when they were still denying that there would be a surge. Same source says that George is back on the sauce and Laura spends most of her time living in a hotel. People who proclaim that anti war Americans are traitors seem to forget that America is all about the Constitution. Which by the way is being undermined by the very people we elected(or did we) to protect it. And 1 American soldier is too many to loose to "liberate" a country that's involved in a deep civil and religious war that will never end. If justice for 9/11 is our aim,then let's find Osama and try him in a World Court. I'd love to see Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeldt before the same Tribunal,they are all criminals.
Reply:Ever heard of using a link?
Reply:Congratulations on the longest question I've ever seen on Yahoo Answers. Unfortunately I don't have time to read it.
Reply:I agree with you but what is the question?
Reply:If you're going to cut and paste a long ramble, at least edit it to be more readble.
Better yet, just post a 1-paragraph summary, and link to the original long text.
And try actually asking a question.
Reply:"Raymond S. Kraft" is full of s**t.
Reply:Hay Ray you didn't cover how the Nazis were backed by the Kennedy Family,(Ambassador to England and sales rep to IBM Joe Kennedy) and that IBM was significant in keeping tract of how the Jews were dealt with. I cant believe that being from the rewrites history capital of the world that you were able to come up with so much accuracy. I find that if you want to learn in America now days you must get off the "drive by" media central. You should look into what Diane Finestine and her husband have been up to, lining their pockets with Defense Contracts through companies owned by her husband, of which a whopping 34% were approved without competitive bidding. Including A curtain hospital that was deemed uninhabitable by the health department.
Reply:Sure - thanks for the nut warmonger side of "history". Comparing Nazi Germany to a few religious suiciders living in mud huts on the other side of the world is irrational.
Reply:This is not a question it is a diatribe.
USA has faced real, worse threats and emerged victorious without unjustified invasions and dumping our most dear constitutional principles.
If we pursue the whoevers the way you all want to, "it is the end of civil rights, hguman rights, democracy, multiculturalism, diversity, etc"
Slow down, take a deep breath, stop trying to romanticize this into being more than a bunch of thugs scaring the crap out of the rest of the world.
Reply:Thank you Raymond for the History Lesson. I really learned so much from you today. Very good historical analysis also I found in above facts. Well, history is one thing and our present time in another. I think you are consumed with history so much and not in touch with the real world. Your concerns are misplaced and lost in history. You are well informed about historical facts, but you need to brush up and get in touch with the real world. Thanks again.
Reply:He is absolutely right.
The world itself is at stake.
World Domination is their goal.
Reply:You are not asking a question, but rather are posting the blathering of someone who takes endless words to make a point. I think that this is a gross waste of time and space, and does little to promote discussion or rational thought on the problems caused by our occupation of Iraq in the middle of their civil war.
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