'As I watch England turn into a quivering pile of dung'

There's nothing quite like a bit of reasoned analysis to set one up nicely for the weekend. Accordingly, we're obliged to Bill (who we suspect might be American) for his take on the revelation that Iran is not, in fact, about two weeks away from nuking Israel, but rather eight years off having any kind of operational nuclear …

[Dan]

Is it Bush ?

Could it be from the Pro-American, Anti-everyone else comments from Bill, AND his poor grammar and spelling that this is in fact George WMDuh Bush himself. It would explain the random claptrap he's coming out with !!

[Liam]

pah - americans....

are we really quivering in a pile of dung? i dont think so.

where did he get that from? his US standard issue coloUring in book of the world?

its the USA getting all hot and sweaty from iran as far as i know.... the UK barely even mentions it.

are you being brainwashed by CNN again mr American? or being lied to again by george 'special needs' bush?

3 years to create and deploy a nuke - i bet you are proud arent you. say thank you to all the non-american scientists that you use for most of your technology as the average american cant even point out the USA on a world globe!

bush hatred is world-wide - mainly cos not even 1/2 your country voted for him yet he still gets in.

thankyou for showing us again why most of the world thinks the average american is a dick :)

i dont suppose you come from the south do you? :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do the Yanks think they are beeter than everyone else?

"As I watch England turn into a quivering pile of dung, like their marines and sailors are supposed to dhow what you are made of, all I can do is laugh, you deserve it."

Well all we can think is that the same gose for the Americans. The British troups did what they had too to stay alive, whilst US marines are off kicking 7 shades out of anyone unfotunat enough to not speek English. Helps if they are in prison/ Chains/ incapacitated in some way of course. If not Fireing on British troups for the fun of it seems to be there second choice of free time activity. Always helps when the US won't provide any infomation to the UK for the investigation of these "accidents".

[call me scruffy]

Oh hush now,

It's well known that iranikstan doesn't have any scientists, let alone phd physicists. Infact they don't even have computers, thanks entirely to america (the only country on earth blessed with divine mandate to have computers) denying iranikstan their essen.. I mean technology. In particular the holy RSA, which shall remain sacred and unsullied as none of the uncooth zealots of iranikstan has even the most basic knowledge of math(s) or programming. Hush now, your concerns are groundless, your fortress of america will keep you safe.

Rockabye Southerner

In the oil field

When pump rocks the gold will flow

...

[bradders]

quivering pile of dung

Ok Bill we are all scared n quivering or however you described the English in your illiterate rant.

Maybe we should all purchase guns like many of the US citizens then we won' t be... oh hang on its the Americans that are quivering and paranoid!

[Stewart Draper]

Forgive my poor geography

But given that the Earth is a SPHERE doesnt that mean that the coast of California would be in range marginally before the British coast?

[Anonymous Coward]

Manhattan Project was kicked-off by British technology-transfer

One simple fact this quivering jelly-brain has clearly failed to make contact with is the technology transfer from Britain during WW2 which enabled the US to develop nuclear technology.

We also gave them radar and a whole host of other technologies to bring them up to speed.....

[Rob]

Inferior US troops...

The Pro US lobby tends to get a bit worked up when they see our troops doing a professional job, it makes them jealous as they look at their frat house idiots running around with guns and music blaring and fire off bullets indiscriminately.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh dear

I wouldn't normally have responded to this as the chap is obiously to easy a target. In this instance, however, I felt compelled to offer comment.

The Royal Marines and Royal Navy crew were arrested without firing a shot for a number of reasons, first they were heavily out numbered and out gunned, secondly, and most importantly, I'm sure they would have been adhering to the specific rules of engagement for their deployment.

Perhaps if the American armed forces were to adhere to these rules of engagement, there would be far less Blue on Blue incidents and far fewer innocent civillians being murdered by gun happy troops.

[Duncan Robertson]

History as well as grammer

It would appear that our intellectually challenged American friend needs a History lesson as well as a Grammar lesson.

The nth Country experiment was ACTUALLY conducted during the sixties to determine how long a couple of physics students would take to devise a feasible DESIGN for a fission weapon.

The development of a fission weapon during the Second World War actually took between 3 and 6 years - depending on when you take the starting point. The initial work was carried out by the British (the "Tube Alloys" project) and this is where the breakthrough calculations and theory was discovered. The British travelled to the US to discuss the exhange of technologies (RADAR, Jet Engines & Fission - oooo all British discoveries then? Fission was after all discovered by John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton in 1932) in exchange to allow the British research laboratories to be sited in US - out of range of German bombers. A YEAR LATER, the Americans had done nothing with the research the British had provided them. Well, OK, they HAD locked it away in a safe. The Manhattan Project was the ACTUAL project set up by the Americans to develop a fission weapon. This was a continuation of the Tube Alloys project under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer, although with significant British input at various stages. Initially the British did not want to be part of the Manhattan Project (probably because they feared the Yanks would cock it up - sounds familiar?!?!), however with the signature of the Quebec Agreement in 1943, Britain entered the project. At the end of the War, the McMahon Act was passed and Britain, thinking that fission weapons had been a joint (some may say British!!!) discovery, was denied access to any US research. It therefore took Britain until 1952 to detonate its first fission weapon - seeing as we had to start again - thanks to the yanks!

So, IF you are going to post to a website mate, check your spelling and get your facts right before you hit "Submit".

[Pizzle Shiznit]

WTFruit?!?!?!

By the powers Willy! ur right!, we subscribers of El Reg...purveyors of teh Beeb...wranglers of Teh Guardian really need the help of 'media saavy' Fox News pants wearers such as yourself!!!!...(lest we end up with distorted world views...)

Now if you could tell me where I can get a set US flag coloured glasses like urs I'd be *really* grateful.....

U prong....

P.s. Show us ya dollar! ;^)

[Call me Kenneth]

Reasoned argument = waste of breath

Do you honestly believe sensible, reasoned argument will win over this idiot ?

meh...! Was going to rant but too burned-out with pre-el(r)ection furore up here in Jockland to make the effort.

[Ross Ryles]

Distances checked

I've checked the distances and Pyogyang to London is shorter than to San Francisco - but only by about 5%.

I don't know how much of an effect it would have on the range of an ICBM but the prevailing wind should favour the Pacific route to some degree.

You do know where the Pacific ocean is don't you?

[Anonymous Coward]

Was Margaret Thatcher the last real man in Britain?

I think the Commonwealth Realm should transfer the crown to Australia. At least the political leaders and military down under still have bollocks.

[Rob]

I was surprised...

I was surprised by the number of rebuttals in this comments section that come dangerously close to be FoTW material themselves...

Come on Reg readers! Pull yourselves together, lest the idiots like this win!

[Colin Jackson]

Gormless Wassock.

At least we didn't elect President Gump. Twice.

[Mark]

Hmm..

Well we can't brag too much on that front, we did elect president... I mean Prime Minister puppe... erm I mean bLIAR... erm Blair 3 times....

He does do almost everything bush tells him to as well, so we really aren't in such a wonderful position ourselves.

[Mark Land]

sorry we are not American

That's right we are old Europe, we probably need to be bombed 'just in case' as we like to actually talk to other nations and view them as real people. OMG we have been infiltrated by terrorists, that is why we are anti-Bush, definitely have WMDs, obviously need a new brand of Democracy - send in the US Marines. Oh yeah, in case you forgot, your country has the single most destructive capacity of any nation, what is more scary than Iran/Korea is that you are all so ignorant, paranoid and trigger happy.

[Marvin the Martian]

Re: "distances checked"

Ross, I may have lost the thread of the argument somewhere, but I guess starting point was supposed to be Teheran or closeby, not Pyongyang --- in that case it's much closer to California than Blighty.

Of course stuff flies a bit faster eastward than westward due to high-speed winds.

[JP]

If it's fear you're talking about...

Which country's main political discussion revolves around "We can't stop, otherwise they'll kill us here at home!", taken beyond all reasonable discourse?

Which country made a pre-emptive strike against another country, that it found out afterwards was effectively harmless?

Which country is rattling its sabre at yet another country, and would probably strike again if it's own military wasn't overstreached?

Which country has abandoned general rules of civilised detainment in pursuit of proof that the ghost of the enemy it claims to chase exists?

Don't talk about fear...

[Anonymous Coward]

Just a comment

Well, don't be too down on all Americans.

Not everyone here is a "yee-haw, gimme my gun!" red stater.

In fact - I'd say a fair number of us would rather have your political system than ours - at least there would be *hope* of change.

Signed,

Someone who'd love to visit, but the exchange rate is death <frown>

[crashIO]

Lame. Incredibly undoubtedly lame. For shame.

Get over yourselves. The gentleman (used loosely) whom we shall apparently call 'Bill' is quite obviously someone of low education.

How dare you classify all Americans by this twits comments. To be sure we treat the French in much the same fashion but rarely, if ever, the British. Which in historical terms seems strange since France helped wrest America from the monarchy. However that is not my point. My point is all this ranting about how we (USA) all suck and how you are so blessed with the intelligence to know how great you really are.

Rubbish. You are just as guilty for electing Blair as we are for electing Bush. You have no grounds on which to act so pious. For when you had members of your government calling for Blair to not engage with Iraq, so did we. When you had citizens crying out to not participate, so did we. And in the end neither of our governments listened to us.

Personally I think your sailors and marines did a fine job protecting themselves, their interests and keeping a tense situation developing into a full blown crisis. So my hat is off to all of them for keeping their wits about them.

So rant and rave and rail against my country if you must. Go ahead if it makes you feel better about yourselves. This 'Bill' character is obviously not the embassador of my country and certainly is not the best we have to offer. Oh and as for that crack earlier about "the south"; I would like to remind you that bluegrass and country and western music has roots in your farmlands. Or did you recently outlaw "fiddle playing"?

[Anonymous Coward]

Enjoy the power while you can

Empires rise and fall, its only a matter of time, and America's time is fast running out.

[Ciaran Tracey]

Of course the american public are scared....

... cultivating a climate of fear is an absolute requirement for the creation of a facist state - the thing is they actually do have a rather good reason to be scared, just not the one they think

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

[Charles Hammond]

Spineless EU

I can not help it; I have to speak out here being one of those ignorant US Citizens you are referring to. I would like to bring up some facts.

How come all of Europe could not defeat Hitler? I am willing to give a lot of credit to England for helping to defeat Hitler. Their Air Corps was probably superior to the US Air Force at the time in quality, if not quantity. However, in many instances it is the American Boots, Guns, and Tanks on the ground that pushed back the Germans. Britian was a force to be reckoned with, but it was not a large enough force to turn back the horde of invaders in word war II.

As I watched this fiasco with the British Sailors blubbering all over the telly like a bunch of sissy fag boys, I couldnt help wondering if it was worth it to kiss the asses of your enemy? British inaction did save the sailors lives, but it made your entire military force look like a bunch of wimps, and it gave a political coo to the Iranians who are truly experts at diplomacy. By diplomacy, I mean the Iranians are very good at propaganda and out and out lying, and they proved it to anyone that was willing to listen to them.

The British Navy must be led by cowards and idiots. They had a helicopter in the air by their small craft inspecting shipping vessels, and they were told to run away and hide from one stinking Iranian Ship. Are these the same British forces that held land in Norther Africa long after all hope was gone and somehow refused to surrender? Are these the same British forces that would rather die than surrender? Did the British even fire one shot at the Iranians when they committed this act of Piracy on the High Seas? They should have died fighting or running away. They had 2 boats, and they could have split up and went different directions. There were British War Vessels nearby with helicopters also. They could have died as heroes, but the British decided to surrender to these lying Iranian Pigs.

Ask yourself now what you are going to do when the biggest supportor of terrorism in the middle east has a Nuclear Weapon and they smuggle one into your subway? How many times should a country get punched in the face before he fights back?

When it comes to the EU, how come it was the USA that helped you so much with Kosavo?

I venture to say that If the USA pulled all of our troops out of Europe, you would be shaking in your boots the first time war broke out. However, you do not even realize what is keeping you safe and who the enemy is.

Don't Tread on Me!

USA

[Dick]

Don't worry guys

if the axis of evil sends you a nuke on a missile one of those millions of UK surveillance cameras is sure to see it coming, and some copper can shout at it and scare it away.

[Alex Wood]

Segregation

Can't you just keep all the Yanks on the American site, El Reg? Give them some explosions and flags and things. Then we can have 'lappy' back over on the right side o' the plonk.

[crashIO]

To Chuck Hammond

As one Yank to another thanks for cocking up my point with your drivel. What exactly would have been accomplished if those sailors had died? Could Britain win a prolonged engagement with Iran and could we help? The obvious answer is 'No'.

And quite frankly what we did in WW2 does NOT give us carte blanche on the stage of world affairs. Divisive rhetoric such as yours is exactly why the world has a poor opinion of us.

The truth is the Middle East hates us not for our freedoms, not for our lack of morals or anything other than NATO's (not just USA) incredibly bad foreign policy during the Cold War. Prior to that they hate Britiain for the empire that dominated them for so long. In the eyes of the Middle East they have been oppressed for centuries.

The Western world has done nothing to remedy these image issues and the bile you spill from your mouth does not help. Does this mean Iran was in the right? Absolutely NOT! They acted liked spoiled little children and someday they will be spanked for acting out.

What Iran did constitutes an act of war and I am sure the British government made that quite clear when dealing with Tehran. However to say those sailors should have died just to save face and possibly ignite yet another conflict in the region is ludicrous.

Iraq is the worst foreign policy move this country has ever done and it has seriously undermined our legitimate operations in Afghanistan. If you are a true conservative patriot than you and your likeminded fellows should do everything you can to put the kabosh on Bush before he does further damage.

I am a true American. I support my country in all things. And my government only when it deserves it.

Remember your history. It goes back more than the 3 decades you wish to recall.

[Matt Caldwell]

Not every American is a moron...

Well, I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon and start throwing insults, but I would like to point out that the majority of Americans aren't morons, or war-mongers, or greedy lying bastards. Those kinds of Americans are just the ones that are in charge of the government and the media. Its unfortunate, but true, and they are usually good enough at scamming the uneducated masses to stay in power.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pulling one from the quiver & taking aim.

If this gentleman has ever cared to get his hands dirty, he would know that dung does not quiver, but steam. A chap who displays a classic case of Yankee environmental unawareness.

Now, the question should be: Is ol' Blighty a steaming pile of dung? Yes, thanks - we've built houses & grown food with it for significantly longer than the USGov has been able to manufacture it.

[Ben]

Transatlantic divide

I don't quite know how we, being the West, got to the level of mindless hysteria we have attained but it is distressing to me. On the one hand I see fellow Americans denigrating our allies as spineless, amoral, and incompetent ingrates. On the other hand I see folks across the pond responding with equally mindless caricatures of Americans as idiotic, hateful, and gun crazy war mongers. If you inwardly smirked when reading either description and said to yourself “well aren’t they” then the rest of this posing is meant for you.

Our distrust and distain is breeding a transatlantic hatred. We now see a growing divide between nations and people that have a common cultural/political heritage and which will someday find they need each other more than we apparently realize. With that in mind, let us all please take a step back and ask if we are seeing others as they really are or if we are simply unable to let go of our oh so deliciously addictive indignation and rage.

Let us give our neighbor the benefit of the doubt, don’t assume he is acting from base motivations, and listen to what he is saying. If in the end we still disagree fine, at least our conclusions are not purely drawn from preconceived and ignorant notions but rather in hopefully reasoned and benevolent judgment.

People have died, are dying, and will continue to die over the issues that face us. We owe it to them to act with justice, wisdom, determination, and if necessary sacrifice instead of the childish emotional self indulgence we have hitherto displayed.

God bless (and if that phrase pisses you off read what I said again)

[Anonymous Coward]

Spineless? Moi?

Heh. The "we saved your asses" gambit.

While I liked your speech very much, I feel compelled to refer to the facts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties ; http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_soldiers_died_in_World_War_2)

In terms of TOTAL casualties, the USA experienced 420K military and civilian dead, the UK 450K. The Soviet Union meanwhile suffered 20M to 30M dead; Poland 6M. So I suggest if anyone were to crow about sacrifice then it would be the Soviets and the Poles. But they don't and what is more the UK didnt spend the next 60 years paying them for their "help".

Now, the UK declared war on Germany on September 3 1939 after Germany invaded Poland. America then largely stood on the touchline for over two years until Germany and Japan declared war on her in December 1941 and she had no choice but to respond in kind.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/chart.ww2.html

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/westpac/westpac.htm

The largest proportion of American dead were in fact in the Pacific. Chinese losses were around 20M. I also note that the Russians put 1M men into battle against the Japanese in Manchuria on August 9, 1945 while Britiain also did its bit in the Far East. Again, I invite readers to speculate about who made the sacrifices and who saved who's "asses".

Even now the only power to use a nuclear weapon is the USA. And they did it twice within days in August 1945. Estimates put deaths at around 350,000 men women and children.

Oh, and you spelt "Kosovo" wrong.

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on guys, this one's a troll

Don't rise to the bait here, it's too obvious a troll. No one's that dumb, not even a Yank.

[Anonymous Coward]

We're not better than you...

We'rrrrrre just bigggggerrrrrrrr 'n y'

We'rrrrrrre higherrrrrr on th' food chen

Now get in our bellis'!

[chaosvoyager]

RGGGHHH!

AGGGGhh!

RRRR! >_<

...

You know, I'm trying to summon some vitriol so I can play along here, but I just can't seem to find it.

It's like seeing the Matrix. You have the 'not all of group X are Y' comments, the 'outright counterattack' comments, and we even started with a 'check your grammar and spelling' comment. Surprisingly, there were no 'bush is a moron' comments, but perhaps that one's too played at this point to be mistaken for intelligent commentary. I see the numbers, but for the life of me I just can't take this seriously.

But that's the point, right (as I'm told I'm somewhat foggy when it comes to cultural mores)?

The only one that caused any sort of reaction was the 'condemn the troops' comment which generated a little acid reflux. It always seems to be the soldiers who pay the price, both in terms of lives, and in terms of the resentment and displaced rage foisted upon them. Very few are anything more than young people still trying to figure out their place in the world entering (or forced) into a situation that makes no sense. Such situations tend to bring the best AND worst out of people at the same time, and at a point where those individuals are still discovering who they really are.

But it's a tricky thing to support your troops while condemning the war.

[JimC]

Of course the Yanks won the WW2

After all they ended up with all the money, everyone else wound up with none. What better definition is there? Len/Lease was a cunning plan to take over all the Poms export markets and worked a treat.

[Blaine Bynum]

Alas, for the rest of the world...

As an American, upon reading arrogant, uneducated, and illiterate crap such as this, all I can feel is deep regret for the fact that idiots like this have the right to vote for men like our current 'Idiot in Chief', who think the greatest accomplishment they can make in the world is to use the vast economic and military assets of the US to promote a militaristic agenda of bullying and belittling every other country on the planet. Unfortunately, for the rest of the 96% of the population of Planet Earth outside of the US, these 'The American Way or the Highway' types yield disproportionate representation. If this were not the case, they would be seen as merely pathetic and sad. As we have seen, the actuality of their arrogance and aggression often results in real tragedy. Amazingly, the last five years have seemed to have taught them nothing.

I only hope those of you outside the US understand that despite outward appearances, not all of us are hyper-aggressive nutcases just waiting to glass any country that dares to differ with US.

[Tom]

I think you folks are starting to sound.....

a little too much like the French. Or maybe even the Germans. And I always thought we were pretty close.

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, come on, chaps...

The anti-American stuff is unfair. They didn't all vote for the idiot Bush and quite a few I know are now living over here to get away from President Cheney and Georgie. This is a crap time to be American: launching a war that was lost before their boys had even left the muddaland was a poor start.

As for you Americans who drag up the usual ill-informed crap about how you dawks won a couple of World Wars on our behalf, study your history. Go on, read a book for once. What do you know about America's policies for the Far East that so unnevered Japan back in the last 1930's - they had already invaded l'il ole China, of course, and they were feeling pretty funky right about then - and which precipitated the attack on Pearl Bailey - or Harbor. Whatever!

Silly old Blighty, daft old beggars that we are, were alone in standing against Fascist Germany back in 1939, and we didn't have to. Adolf had never intended to invade because he believed Britain was an ok kind of a place. Poland and mainland Europe fell down like nine-pins but men and women from Britain and the Commonwealth countries volunteered to fight against what were clearly insurmountable odds to stand up against Hitler & Co Ltd, and the USA bravely fought to stay out of it. Sure, Roosevelt knew that Canada and the USA would be next on the list, and he did his best to talk sense into America's Dumbest, but you guys were steadfast, stayed home, turned the lights off and pretended to be out. Then Pearl Harbor (I drop the 'u' out of politeness) happened, and not the last time US intelligence - I snicker even as I type it - got it a bit wrong. Say, Dwight, I wonder where the Japanese fleet got to... Oh shi'ite! They they are! Later, In Eye-Rack, well... Weapons of mass destruction indeed. Ever notice it was only Saddam Hussein keeping the lid on the Middle East for ya, suckers?. He was the only feckn friend you had out there, and you got him hanged and hundreds of thousands of innocent mummies, daddies and kiddies got slaughtered because you couldn't work out what would happen when you arrived in Baghdad. Al Qaeda weren't there before but bejasas they're there now, and they brung their pals, Tyrone.

And us, the Brits. We elect President Bliar - ohmygoodgodwhy? He's a smart guy, allegedly, who respects George Bush. So, not so smart, then.

Let's face it, ladies, the Brits and the Americans are as stupid as each other, except us Brits only wave our flags at football matches (they're the games where the balls are round and not played by gay blokes with helmets and fat suits).

Oh... At the risk of sounding American, I give up. What's the point in this outpouring of stuff. Too much French wine (none of that Californian swill for me, ta). So here's to peace between nations. Unless they have WMDs, of course.

Do you feel lucky? Now do ya, punk?

[Anonymous Coward]

RE:Spineless? Moi?

When confronted with jingoistic "we saved your asses in dubya dubya eye eye" Americans I just remind them, politely and calmly that if the British, the commonwealth and allies had not opposed Hitler in 1939-41 then the first thing America would have realised regarding Hitler's ambitions would have been when atomic bombs started falling on New York and Washington.

So it looks like we saved America's lardy ass in WWII.

Don't it make you feel good?

[Ian Damage]

Couple of things

To crashIO : Glad to see you seem to be the exception to the (perceived) rule as displayed by Bill and his mate Chucky. Have a beer, you deserve it.

To Bill and Chucky : 1) Europe could well have beaten Hitler, might have taken another 5-10 years, but it would have happened. Just remember your political power comes from being a world vulture, circling overhead and taking the choice bits of meat when everyone is too tired from years of fighting to resist.

2) The world hates you becuase you are unwilling to take your head out of your collective arses. Trying to force peace onto the world by the point of a sword is not exactly a "christian" thing to do now is it?

3) Ignorance seems to get more press coverage and validity in your country than wisdom, intelligence and insight. The minute ANY reputable news network (not FOX) can out-rate Springer, I will stand corrected. I guess I'll be sitting.

My condolences to any US citizens out there who do not have red necks, who have more than 5 brain cells, and who did not vote for Bush.

[Pascal Monett]

Trying to force peace onto the world by the point of a sword

. . is exactly what the Christians have been doing for the past 2000 years. Why stop now ?

[Barry Lane]

I suspect that God is not an American

The UK has enough problems of its own making without needing to point fingers and throw sticks at the USA, but I find that America's fundamental Christianity concerns me more than the Islamist variety elselwhere in the world. For a lot of folks around the globe, the USA's oft-touted 'Freedom' and 'Democracy' actually represent nothing more than what America believes is its inalienable right to foist its policies and 'philosophies' upon an ungrateful world. As soon as I hear any politician hint that God is on his or her side, I reach for the sick bag and the tin hat (it pays not to confuse those two, let me tell you).

I've only met one American who admitted to voting for Bush (then again, fewer of you voted for him than for Al Gore) and every one of them confessed to being embarrassed about their so-called Commander in Chief.

Don't know who's going to be the next Prezz but they'd better be a peacenik Democrat or the world is going to go dayglo one day soon.

[Anonymous Coward]

'Mericans

Yup, Bill types are who I get to deal with every day. Fun, no? But banning US Americans from the site is a silly idea. You need some one to make fun of in the comments section.

We aren't all like Bill.

quote:

At least we didn't elect President Gump. Twice.

Heh, I feel like he didn't even get elected once.

And as a US American, I am sick of the "We saved yo' ass in WWII" line that gets dropped by Bill and his cronies. I believe that was what today would be called a collaborative effort. None of the Allied forces could have dealt with that situation alone.

And yesh, we have started a pre-emptive empire building war in a far off land over resources. You would think at least one country could learn from history, but meh.

The only thing that currently bugs me about England is the CCTV situation. It just gives me the creeps. Meanwhile, back here at the ranch, we are selling public works and infrastructure to the highest private bidders.

Wheeee! Fascism here we come!

[Edward Noad]

Transatlantic Divide? Less Than Mysterious

It always amazes me how many Americans seem to think us Brits should like them. Leaving aside the usual misunderstood rubbish from history that gets waved around by the uneducated on both sides, there's a really simple, current reason that the British (and most other countries) don't like America.

American economic policy has lead to it being the home of many aggressive multinationals, who are currently on a world-wide mission to place themselves within the availability of everyone with cash, and the lack of self-control to resist their marketing. And they don't care how many "domestic" or "small" businesses they destroy in those other countries along the way, just as long as the foreigner's money keeps working it's way to American bank accounts.

And yes, The United Kingdom is among those targets, having it's own companies bought out, pushed out or marginalised so AmericaCorp can keep it's economic growth rate on track. Or at least, that's why *I* despise America. And most of my friends too. And my Dad, who's company was purchased by DuPont for the express purpose of closing it down to get another competitor out of the way.

At least you can't pay for things in Dollars here yet...

[J]

Vultures...

That was a very fitting image. Specially considering El Reg's mascot...

Now, thanks to the USA for opportunistically joining those wars. I'm neither USA nor European born, but I appreciate it anyway. It sure helped, but history is not made of ifs...

Now let's look at some simple dates again (as somebody did above) lest you keep spewing the drivel about saving somebody here or there:

- USA joins WWI: April 1917. WWI had begun in 1914, to end in 1918.

- USA joins WWII: late Dec. 1941, practically 1942. WWII began in 1939, in case they don't teach that in your schools. Much more significant involvement here, for sure.

Just some historical perspective. And playing the "if" game, maybe the guy above is right, and if Germany wasn't busy fighting over there USA would have heard of them when nuked, who knows. They sure we're trying and had the scientists to do so (unlike the USA, where there was very little science before the 40s; good inventors, but little science).

Cheers

J

[John Dougald McCallum]

Comment ;)

.....on the above posts:-

May the Lord have the gift to give us to see ourselves as others see us (R.Burns) upon seeing a louse crawling up the fancy hat of a woman in church,allegedly.