Ciao!

I'm embarassed to say that I had forgotten this day. My grandad always reminded me - he lost many friends that day. We lost the old bugger himself a couple of years ago.

Thanks for the reminder.

Cheap shot, b/c Iraq invasion and D Day are not comparable. N.

Perhaps. But I'd argue that the cases have enough in common to be comparable. Are they identical? Of course not. But one wonders how some (and the key word here is "some") of the tortured arguments would fare when compared to other cases of international conflict.

One could argue that the Second World War was in large measure caused by the unfair hegemony of Anglo-American powers (Versailles, the economic embargo on Japan). Or that the war killed too many civilians indiscrimentantly (aerial bombardment). Or that years after the war started, there seemed to be no clear end in sight. Or that the war turned from a war of self-defense into a war of state-making. Or that (for the US), the war started after an attack by Japan, but we focused our resources on fighting in Europe, instead. Or that the Allies included imperial powers who hypocritically fought "to make the world safe for democracy" while oppressing colonials & ethnic minorities. Etc.

So I'm not so sure it's such a cheap shot after all.

I've always liked the comparison stating that our invasion of Iraq because of 9/11 would have been equivalent to us invading Mexico after Pearl Harbor.

But in the big picture, yes, there are many similarities, and it was shameful that it took Pearl Harbor to get us motivated against the Nazis. And in the long run, I think everyone's glad we fought in World War II.

One other thing (at the risk of rambling) people often forget is that the declaration of war for the first Gulf War - often thought of among people my age or younger as an obviously justified war - only received a 52-47 vote in the Senate.

Right or wrong, it's interesting to note that we often forget the dissent and controversy when looking back. Though the WWII/GWOT comparison is a bit of a stretch, many Americans did oppose both World Wars.

Another parallel --- allies of convenience.

It's commonly said there could be no connection between secular fascist Iraq under Saddam and the holy warrior Osama. Equally, for a fair period of the 20th century, it was said that fascism and communism were diametrically opposed. Yet of course Stalin and Hitler became allies of convenience in 1939, making the Second World War inevitable.

This doesn't mean that one should assume a connection between Saddam and Osama but neither should one be too surprised if evidence of one exists. In history there is nothing inherently improbable about improbable alliances.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, someone once said. I wonder who it was.