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History See other History Articles Title: Iraq and World War 2: A Timeline I got to thinking recently about the inevitable comparisons Republicans like to trot out about Iraq and World War 2, and their assertions that if we were to pull out now, it would be like giving up in the Second World War when things were looking bad. Being kind of familiar with the timeline of World War 2, this got me thinking. More below the fold... Only last month, Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert played what counts as "clever" by Republican standards by saying the following about John Murtha (thanks, Louie, for giving the world another proof that my native Texas can unfortunately produce asshats as well as cowboy hats): Murtha handled his response well, leaving a meek and chastened Gohmert in his wake. But I got to thinking: Gosharootie, exactly where were we by this time in our participation in World War 2? The conflict in Iraq has been going on for over 1,200 days currently. American participation in World War 2 lasted fewer than 1,400 days (and U.S. participation was even less than that in the case of the First World War). I fully acknowledge that World War 2 had been going on for well over 2 years before the U.S. became formally involved. But, since Republicans seem to believe that U.S. participation pretty much comprised the important part of World War 2 (I disagree, being a student of Russian history as well as respectful of the British actions during the Battle of Britain, in Greece, and in North Africa), I'll stick with that period of time here. The first 4 months of U.S. involvement in World War 2, unlike the rapid successes early in Iraq (marred by the out of control looting) were a time of Japanese successes in the Pacific, as Japan overran the Phillipines, Burma, Wake Island, Hong Kong, the Solomon Islands, and so on. Yet somewhere between about the 125th and 200th days of war - both in Iraq and World War 2, everything flip-flopped. On Day 125 in Iraq, Uday and Qusay Hussein were killed, marking one of the final successes in Iraq before unrelenting setbacks and embarrassments would begin to force PR attempts to take the stage. On Day 133 in WW2, the Doolittle raid on Tokyo was the first shot in the arm for the American population. A little over two weeks later, U.S. and Japanese carrier forces engaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, which ended in a draw and marked the end of Japan's uninterrupted string of successes in the Pacific. In Iraq around this stage of things, 153 days into that conflict, the United Nations headquarters was destroyed by a truck bomb, killing the UN special envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello and effectively ending the likelihood of strong and active UN participation in Iraq. By Day 179 of WW2, the Battle of Midway was already signalling the "turning point in the war in the Pacific." On Day 197 in Iraq, David Kay's Iraqi Survey Group released its report admitting there was little to no evidence of WMDs in Iraq. Around the time - Day 240-244 - that General Abizaid was optimistically opining that the mounting insurgency comprised no more than 5,000 insurgents, the U.S. in World War 2 was already landing in Guadalcanal. On Day 252 British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw secretly slipped into Iraq for a quick visit followed the next day by an even more secret, surprise, quick visit by President Bush, who just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought he'd stop by for a staged photo op. On Day 254 of WW2, James Roosevelt, the son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - actually Captain James Roosevelt serving with the United States Marine Raiders - paid an equally secret and surprise quick visit to Japanese held Makin Island with his team of Raiders, earning the Navy Cross. Two days later, not to be outdone for pure courage, Allied forces consisting primarily of Canadian and British troops landed in Dieppe, France (this would be two years before Normandy, in other words) to secure a beachhead as a medium scale dry-run of the later Normandy landing. By Day 382 of Iraq, when the Al Sadr militias engaged in an uprising, costing Casey Sheehan, among others, his life, Allied forces in World War 2 had begun engaging Rommel in North Africa and the Japanese in Burma. By Day 467 of Iraq, when Paul Bremer symbolically handed over sovereignty to Iraq and secretly snuck out of the country, in WW2, British forces had liberated Libya and the Soviets had decimated German forces at Stalingrad and captured 17 generals, considered to be one of the major turning points of the War in Europe. Around Day 485 of Iraq when the Philippines decided to pull out of Iraq, Allied Forces in WW2 had begun the Tunisia offensive which would end in a little over a month with the end of Germany's North Africa campaign. While Republicans tried to put the best face on Iraq (despite major issues in Samarra and other locales) in the final months of the run-up to the all-important goal of getting Bush elected, the Allies in WW2 had invaded Sicily and Mussolini had already been deposed. Of course, with Bush (barely) ensconced back in the White House, Operation Phantom Fury would take place over almost two months following the election ending resistance in Fallujah for the time being on Day 645 of Iraq, just 2 days after Italy capitulated to the Allies in WW2. By Day 804 in Iraq when Cheney claimed the insurgency was now in its "last throes", the situation in WW2 was beginning to look exactly like that, as the U.S. had already liberated Tarawa among other islands in the Pacific, and the Soviets had crossed the Polish border to begin engaging German forces on non-Russian soil for the first time. On Days 871 through 895 while Cindy Sheehan maintained her vigil at Camp Casey and before Bush grudgingly ended his vacation because of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. had already recaptured the Marshall Islands and George Bush Sr. was flying missions over Wake Island in the Pacific. In Europe, the Soviets had recaptured the Crimea and Sebastapol. By only day 913 in WW2, the Allies had staged the D-Day landing in Normandy, followed by the Soviet's Fourth Major Offensive. By Day 974 of Iraq, when John Murtha came out against the waging of the war and began to meet the first retaliatory attacks of being a "defeatist," a coward, and someone who wanted to cut-and-run (never mind the prudence behind the Marines' "retrograde advance" from the Chosin Reservoir in the Korean War), the Soviets in WW2 had already reached the outskirts of Warsaw (sadly sitting by, though, while the entrenched Germans bloodily put down the Warsaw Uprising and the U.S. had already broken out of the Normandy beachhead and begun a barely interrupted offensive through France. By Day 1050 in WW2, the Allies had captured the first Germany city, driven Japanese forces from India, liberated Belgium, Bulgaria, Romania, and were engaging Axis forces in Albania, Greece, and Czechoslovakia. By Day 1184 in Iraq, when Rep. Louie Gohmert proved himself to be an asshat with swords crossed and fig leaves (to cover his naked embarrassment), U.S. forces in WW2 had been victorious in Leyte Gulf, the Battle of the Bulge, re-taken Corregidor, and landed on Iwo Jima, while Soviet forces in Europe had captured Warsaw, Krakow, and Lodz. Two days from now, the 1232nd Day of the Iraq War, nothing will be much changed from last month, last quarter, or last year except the names of the casualties. In WW2, however, at this stage, U.S. forces had already crossed the Rhine, Soviet forces had encircled Berlin, and U.S. forces had landed on Okinawa to begin the last major island battle of the Pacific War. Well, we know what happened next. Barely two weeks later, Germany surrendered unconditionally with Japan following less barely three months later. Anyone with sufficient time on their hands can compare the vast size of the forces arrayed in WW2 with those in Iraq, the enormous size of the casualties involved in WW2, or a countless number of other comparisons that make the comparisons of the two a tad ludicrous. Of course, as I've illustrated, most ludicrous of all is the fact that we're just about at the end of U.S. involvement and the surrender Germany and Japan in WW2 while the conflict in Iraq looks like it could set the stage for a Soviets-in-Afghanistan or U.S.-in-Vietnam style longevity, given the chance. Consider this also: in 1,230 days, Bush is still trying to pacify the one country he managed to "liberate" - since that's what he wants to call it now. By this time in WW2, the Allies had liberated or occupied countries all over the world - Libya, Egypt, India, Greece, Albania, the Philippines and various Pacific Islands, France, Belgium, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary, and so on. Kind of makes you think that, had George W. Bush been in the White House in WW2, he would have taken a hard look at Japan and Germany and their formidable military machines...and invaded some "safe" place like Argentina and called it a day. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: Morgana le Fay (#0)
Murtha's brother is a lobbyist for defense contractors. When Congressman Murtha was asked about the trillions of dollars that Donald Rumsfeld admitted was missing from the Defense Department on Sept. 19, 2001, he blew right past the questioner and said she must have meant billions. He is opposed to the Iraq war, but there are limits to his honesty.
There are no replies to Comment # 1. End Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
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