There's always one...

[lizziec]

Did we learn the lessons of Auschwitz?

Most people are having a fairly reasoned debate or contribution.

Then from Nathaniel, Houston, Texas, USA we get:

"Have we learnt the lessons of Auschwitz? Depends on who "we" are. America had to twice go across the Atlantic to stop smaller genocides taking place in Europe after WW 2 (Bosnia and Kosovo). America also stepped in to stop Saddam Hussein, a dictator who gassed people and sent them to mass graves. So I would say America has most definitely learned from Auschwitz. Now as for whether or not "we" the Europeans have learned the lessons of Auschwitz, that's another story. Europeans sat idly by as Milosevic's thugs massacred Bosnians and Kosovars. Europeans drew absurd colonial boundaries in the third world, and then lifted nary a finger when the tribes they stuck together within these boundaries began to massacre one another. So if the question is have "we" learnt the lessons of Auschwitz, one needs to consider who is meant by "we" before answering."

Do "we" think he voted for Bush then?

Comments

[reggitsti.livejournal.com]

Talking history with anyone American of that persusion is generally a waste of time, all they see is black and white, and occaisonally white is black, where was this from anyway ?

where was this from anyway ?

[reggitsti.livejournal.com]

scrub that bit... doh!

Re: where was this from anyway ?

[trappermcintyre.livejournal.com]

*grin*

I thought it was interesting. It's people like this who occasionally cause me to forget that there are good americans too... :S

[evad-ukc.livejournal.com]

Have we learnt the lessons of Auschwitz? Interesting answer from Nathaniel there.

World War Two... America only took part in the war because the Empire of Japan attacked the United States, and the US had been a sleeping isolationist for years before that. So, he's wrong there.

In Bosnia and Kosovo the United States "had to twice go across the Atlantic" because they were a member of NATO which had been asked by the United Nations to take military action against Bosnia and Kosovo. America wouldn't have got involved otherwise.

"America also stepped in to stop Saddam Hussein..." it's an interesting fact now that the US would like us to equate the Iraq war and the Kosovo Conflict. Very interesting. We all know though that America went to war due to "weapons of mass destruction" that didn't exist and a link between Saddam and Al Queda, which of course, didn't exist. The byproduct was the liberation of those people, and if that was the US goal, why then did the Americans not get involved in the country earlier?

Based on the abuse of the law by the US Army and torture of prisoners, I'd say that America has forgotten the lessons.

However, there is some truth in this article. Europeans did draw absurd colonial boundries, oh, say, 80 years ago, and then watched as tribes attacked each other.

Problem is, there wasn't a problem until the Cold War. And there are many reasons why dictators found their way to the top during that period.

Funny thing is, in Zimbabwe, Europe is trying to stop the horrible events taking place. The United States, oh yes, aren't lifting a finger...

[reggitsti.livejournal.com]

It's such a shame that the BBC don't have a comment on this comment option really isn't it ? :)

[barakta]

Not to mention that the Americans and British governments were responsible for putting Saddam in Iraq in the first place. They interfere and meddle with the Middle East and the Unstable systems there are allowed to continue for our governments gain.

Natalya