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There is also the very strong polarization of everything in the US. When they choose a target they just paint everything about it in black. On a related note,

There is also the very strong polarization of everything in the US. When they choose a target they just paint everything about it in black. On a related note, I discovered that many Americans have no ideas of the tremendous role of Russia in WWII, it has been completely erased from US collective memory the only thing that's left in popular US memory is USSR, communism is bad (and I'm pretty sure the details of why are blurry), and Russia can only be evil. They are now painting other targets that way, like Iran, NK, and they used the same propaganda against Iraq. I guess they don't know (and acknowledge and take part of the responsibility for) the role of the US in creating the current situation in Korea. There is a real lack of a measured and intellectual discourse in US public space (and by radiating influence, it's crushing it in the rest of the world).

JackFr 12y ago
What you seem to be saying, is that because you know of no measured and intellectual discourse in the United States, there is none. Maybe you're looking in the wrong place. Honestly, yours is truly a superficial, fake-sophisticate straw man, devoid of facts or information and pandering to the most simplistic anti-American tropes. I was happy to ignore it, but this caught my eye: > I guess they don't know (and acknowledge and take part of the responsibility for) the role of the US in creating the current situation in Korea. I'm curious what you mean by that.
- SiVal 12y ago
  Well, since he's upset that Americans don't give Russians enough credit for their WWII contributions, such as the gift of a Stalinist government to the Korean Peninsula, he's probably blaming the US for "creating the current situation" in which the South Koreans have been denied the benefits of life in a Stalinist Workers Paradise.
aragot 12y ago
> I discovered that many Americans have no ideas of the tremendous role of Russia in WWII Oh we have. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of... I quote: "Female deaths in connection with rapes in Germany are estimated to 240,000". Stalin himself had to ask them to be more gentle, what an irony from such a horrible person. Besides, Russia was on the side of Hitler until Hitler betrayed it. It's not like they chose to be on the same side as US and democracy and freedom for the last year of WWII, it was the definition of "coincidence".
- zwischenzug 12y ago
  "Russian historians have criticized the estimates and argue that these crimes were not widespread." Anecdotal here - my mother's mother (an Austrian of Jewish descent) had to dress up as an old woman to avoid being raped in the Russian quarter of Vienna. Russians were notorious for this, so my father (an Englishman) was welcomed with relatively open arms, as the English were known to them as gentlemen less likely to brutalise women.
- nraynaud 12y ago
  Tanks for the demonstration. Everybody was more or less on hitler's side after Munich until a different something happened to everyone. The U.S. entered the war only after they got attacked themselves (see a pattern here?). If remembering and describing a country's past is only remembering the worst without any nuance, why would anyone remember the U.S. for any positive thing? Or maybe the torture by the CIA or the 100000 deaths in Iraq doesn't erase the helping others in WWII and we have to live in a complex world where nothing is really black or white. just try to remember salient Facts, not rewrite history. And some countries could benefit from learning to say: "we're sorry", more than to say:"we're awesome" (that's valid for the 2 bullies of the other 200 countries). On the NK situation, crossing the 38th parallel during the counter attack without having the means for a complete military victory and occupation just helped polarize everything. And now we can link the 2: invading Germany and Japan was possible because Russia agreed, invading NK was not possible because russia was against it. And this whole idea of "checking with Russia first" runs contrary to the Cold War mindset.

JackFr 12y ago

What you seem to be saying, is that because you know of no measured and intellectual discourse in the United States, there is none. Maybe you're looking in the wrong place. Honestly, yours is truly a superficial, fake-sophisticate straw man, devoid of facts or information and pandering to the most simplistic anti-American tropes. I was happy to ignore it, but this caught my eye: > I guess they don't know (and acknowledge and take part of the responsibility for) the role of the US in creating the current situation in Korea. I'm curious what you mean by that.

SiVal 12y ago
Well, since he's upset that Americans don't give Russians enough credit for their WWII contributions, such as the gift of a Stalinist government to the Korean Peninsula, he's probably blaming the US for "creating the current situation" in which the South Koreans have been denied the benefits of life in a Stalinist Workers Paradise.

aragot 12y ago

> I discovered that many Americans have no ideas of the tremendous role of Russia in WWII Oh we have. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of... I quote: "Female deaths in connection with rapes in Germany are estimated to 240,000". Stalin himself had to ask them to be more gentle, what an irony from such a horrible person. Besides, Russia was on the side of Hitler until Hitler betrayed it. It's not like they chose to be on the same side as US and democracy and freedom for the last year of WWII, it was the definition of "coincidence".

zwischenzug 12y ago
"Russian historians have criticized the estimates and argue that these crimes were not widespread." Anecdotal here - my mother's mother (an Austrian of Jewish descent) had to dress up as an old woman to avoid being raped in the Russian quarter of Vienna. Russians were notorious for this, so my father (an Englishman) was welcomed with relatively open arms, as the English were known to them as gentlemen less likely to brutalise women.
nraynaud 12y ago
Tanks for the demonstration. Everybody was more or less on hitler's side after Munich until a different something happened to everyone. The U.S. entered the war only after they got attacked themselves (see a pattern here?). If remembering and describing a country's past is only remembering the worst without any nuance, why would anyone remember the U.S. for any positive thing? Or maybe the torture by the CIA or the 100000 deaths in Iraq doesn't erase the helping others in WWII and we have to live in a complex world where nothing is really black or white. just try to remember salient Facts, not rewrite history. And some countries could benefit from learning to say: "we're sorry", more than to say:"we're awesome" (that's valid for the 2 bullies of the other 200 countries). On the NK situation, crossing the 38th parallel during the counter attack without having the means for a complete military victory and occupation just helped polarize everything. And now we can link the 2: invading Germany and Japan was possible because Russia agreed, invading NK was not possible because russia was against it. And this whole idea of "checking with Russia first" runs contrary to the Cold War mindset.