I was flipping around the channels a little bit ago when I landed on A&E, where late at night they have this show called "A&E Classroom" which plays old newsreel films. The one I saw tonight absolutely blew my mind.

The newsreel I was watching looked to be from around 1959 or 1960 (guessing by the cars), and it was about a goodwill tour that President Eisenhower was taking around the Middle East. He went to Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Greece, and in each country he rode down the streets of the capital in a open-top limousine and was mobbed by tens of thousands of cheering spectators waving American flags and who seemed almost close enough to actually touch him as he rode past. "Here comes Ike down the streets of Kabul," the newsreel announcer triumphantly cheered, "and the people of Afghanistan are giving the president a warm welcome!"

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It totally blew me away. Obviously the Cold War was near its peak and most of those countries probably were controlled by right-wing dictators who, at the time were friendly with the West, not to mention that Ike still held hero status from being Supreme Allied Commander during the Second World War but still, it was amazing.

The whole time I was thinking out loud, "Oh my God, he's right there out in the open!" Now, back then this was probably fairly common practice (until after the Kennedy assassination) but from today's point-of-view it seemed absolutely insane.

I couldn't even begin to imagine George W. Bush ever traveling in a motorcade while riding in an open-top limousine anywhere here in the United States.

Let alone in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan.  :o :o :o

My, how times have changed...

I remember being a bit confused when I found out that during WWII the Russians were our "friends" and the Italians our "enemies".  In school in the fifties it was definitely the other way around.

"Here comes Ike down the streets of Kabul," the newsreel announcer triumphantly cheered, "and the people of Afghanistan are giving the president a warm welcome!" 


Oh, you haven't tasted bitter irony until you've seen Rambo III.

(Edit: "allies" vs "friends"; Mushroom's about to remind me that we knew what Stalin was about, and that it was only public war-weariness that caused us to shelve our plans to invade a weakened Russia post-WW2.)

In WW2, the Russians were our allies.
In Cold War I, the Russians were our enemies.

In Afghanistan, that meant that John Rambo was out there, kicking Godless Russian Commie ass in Afghanistan, on behalf of some Simple Religious Tribesmen who were just fighting for the simple American right to freedom of religion...

Oops.

I remember being a bit confused when I found out that during WWII the Russians were our "friends" and the Italians our "enemies".  In school in the fifties it was definitely the other way around.


Oh, even during WWII the Soviet Union was not our friend.  And most people in both the Military and the Government were well aware of that fact.  They simply pretended that was the case, in order to fight what many though was an even greater evil.

There were many incidents during the war that showed they were not our friends even then.  Among them are the "detainment" of B-29 aircraft that made emergency landings in USSR territory during the war.  Every one that landed there (and a great many other aircraft) were invariably "impounded", and the crews kept as POWs until after the war was over.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1852

In fact, a great many historians have wondered for years why only Germany was singled out for Ultimatums, when both they and the Soviet Union were involved in the invasion of Poland.

And by the end of WWII, it was obvious to almost everybody that the Soviet Union was nobodies friend.  Incidents like the Katyn Forest, Bykivnia, Khaibakh, Nemmersdorf, and Treuenbrietzen showed they could be just as cruel (or worse) then the Nazis.

The Soviets clearely showed a kind of double-dealing that is incredible.  They would negotiate with Germany to split up Poland, then plead innocence when later attacked by Germany.  They would claim to be loyal Allies, while detaining both US and UK equipment and personel who were forced to land in their territory.  They would scream at German barbarism, while hiding even worse crimes in their own territory.

To only a few people were the Soviets ever "our friends".  It is more of a case of "the enemy of our enemy is our friend".  We never really trusted them, but siding with them was better then the alternative.

Oh, even during WWII the Soviet Union was not our friend.  And most people in both the Military and the Government were well aware of that fact.  They simply pretended that was the case, in order to fight what many though was an even greater evil.



Yes, I know all that... now. I was speaking of the state of education which is controlled by government spin, particularly virulent in the fifties. We were taught the opposite, and many people never went on to learn different.  There are still people who haven't figured out that it is government propoganda on all sides that turns people against each other.  The the term "we" is the government using it akin to the royal "we". Unfortunately too many people subscribe to the enemy of the month club.

Yes, I know all that... now. I was speaking of the state of education which is controlled by government spin, particularly virulent in the fifties. We were taught the opposite, and many people never went on to learn different.  There are still people who haven't figured out that it is government propoganda on all sides that turns people against each other.  The the term "we" is the government using it akin to the royal "we". Unfortunately too many people subscribe to the enemy of the month club.


Actually, I always had great respect for the Soviet people.  Even during the 1980's when most of my training was in ways to defeat them.  To me the issue was never the people, simply their government.

Of course, for most of the history of our nation, our worst enemy was England.  And before that, our worst enemy was France.

Actually, I always had great respect for the Soviet people.  Even during the 1980's when most of my training was in ways to defeat them.  To me the issue was never the people, simply their government.


That, too.  Their system of government was evil, but the Russians were a worthy adversary for a civilized people.  Fundamentally rational guys; neither the Soviets nor the Americans really wanted to nuke each other, so it was all about jockeying for position and political power.  As for us?  Well, when all you have to differentiate yourselves against the Soviets is the fact that you don't torture, you don't eavesdrop on your own people, and they have the highest proportion of their population in prison than anyone on the planet, you tend to play a better game.

The current crop of bad guys?  Not so much.

"Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the Abyss, the Abyss gazes also into you."
- Fredrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

I'm willing to compromise as long as we can stop at or near our present 80s-Soviet levels of evil (given that we've now adopted as policy, three of the biggest things I was brought up to despise about the USSR), but we're not fighting the Soviets any more, and there's really no limit to how far down the rabbit hole we can fall.  I miss having an adversary I could respect.  Seeing Putin reviving the old Soviet ways of running his country is probably the best thing that could happen to us.  He gives us a lower bound, beneath which we might choose not to stoop.

We usually have an enemy every decade...or so it seems.

1800's-England
1840's-Mexico
1860's-Confederate States
1910's-Germany
1940's-Germany (Again), Japan
1950's-Russia and the Eastern Bloc
1970's-Eastern Bloc and Middle East
2000's-Middle East

There will be a Strong Enemy for us. Will the EU Countries be next?