Reply #34: Don't Forget the Red Army.

[happyslug]

People tend to forget that the Soviet Union had the Largest and most powerful Army in the World by 1945. US Air Power and Naval Power far exceeded the Soviet Air and Naval Power but unlike the German army of 1942-1945 the Soviet Army had full access to all the oil it needed (The German Army oil usage had been reduced by as much as 90% by 1942 and fell from that "height").

Furthermore in 1932 the Communists were about equal to the Nazis when it came to support in the last elections of the Wiemar Republic, this organization had been attacked by Hitler but a good part of it survived even in the Western Zone of Occupation. Thus from VE day onward, the German leadership had a great fear that if you resisted the US and its Western Allies, all you would get would be the Soviet Army. The Red Army occupying ALL OF GERMANY was NOT want the German leadership wanted nor did most of the people in Germany wanted. Thus no Resistance for every German knew what would be next (as to the Communists, Stalin was afraid of a US Attack, so he told the Communists in Western Europe NOT to commit acts of Terrorism, thus both the Right and left did no acts of Terrorism against the US Occupation).

As to Japan, People tend to forget one of the Reason we drop the A-bomb on the date we did was it was not quite 90 days from the end of fighting in Europe. Stalin had promised FDR that the Red Army would invade Manchuria within 90 days of the end of Fighting in Europe. We bombed Hiroshima one day, the next day the Soviets Cross the Border (Stalin had planed on that date for it takes a lot of planning to move units from Europe to Soviet Manchuria Border). The Day after the Soviet invasion of Manchuria we dropped the second bomb. A week later the Red Army was half-way through Manchuria leaving the Japanese Army still in Manchuria destroyed and nothing stopping the Red Army from Taking Port-Arthur on the Chinese Coast by September 1, 1945 and ALL of Korea by October 1, 1945.

This was further complicated by the fact that the ONLY opposition leader to survive the Assassinations of the 1930s was living in Moscow in 1945 and the Japanese leadership did not WANT him to become the new ruler of Japan (who also had a strong Communist party in this time period). Again Stalin did not want the provoke the US and told the Communists to behave themselves during the American Occupation, thus again both the Right and left had reasons NOT to fight the Americans.

In Iraq, the Communist party was destroyed in the 1960s by Batthest Party (it survives in some aspects but not a factor in this fight). The only regional opposition to US occupation of Iraq is Iran and Saudi Arabia. Both are NOT in a position to invade Iraq while the US occupy Iraq, but both really do not want the US in Iraq. Thus both Saudi Arabia and Iran are supporting parties in the insurgency, the Shiites by Iran and the Sunnis by Arabia (Via bin Laden who is the main opposition to the house of Saud in Arabia and a factor in this fight even while hiding in a cave in Afghanistan).

Thus while the left and right both had reasons NOT to fight the US Occupation of Japan and Germany in 1945, the opposite is true in Iraq. Neither the Shiites nor the Sunnis want us in the Country. Neither really fear a foreign invasion from Arabia or Iran (or even Turkey who dislikes the Kurds) and thus have no reason to support the US occupation. The main fear of the Sunnis, the Kurds and the Shiite is rule of one of the other two. That is what they are fighting about who is to rule Iraq AFTER THE US LEAVES. In Germany and Japan the US made an effort to put back in power the same people who supported Hitler and Tojo, but no one with direct ties (and a few anti-Nazis who were NOT communists). Thus, except for the top ranks of the Nazi party (and the Japanese Government), most Germans and Japanese were told they had been bad and not to go to war against, but then put back in power for to do more meant the Communists would take over.

I go into the above to show the difference, all three Countries have a long history of Opposing foreign rule, but two of them (Japan and Germany) had more to lose if they decided to fight the American Occupation. In the case of Iraq, the Iraqi people have nothing to lose to fight the US, and are doing so for they want to be ruled by themselves NOT some foreign Government.