Thursday, September 22, 2011

Demolishing Another American Myth

Demolishing Another American Myth

The myth making and flights of self righteous fantasy that passes for American history, can be truly amazing. Everything is boiled down into a delicious black and white, where we are the righteous, God given power of purity and butterflies and rainbows, who must go out on our unicorns and do battle with evil.

For the well trained mind, versed in history and facts, that is exactly how the rubbish that passes for American history appears. It is almost as silly as the daily statements made by pompous and bellicose politicians and busy bodies who are more than happy to shred thousands of foreign children with daisy cutters, if not burning them to a crisp with napalm, all the while readying holier than thou, morality lectures to the world.

So with no further adieu, and no teleprompter, I set out to destroy one more myth of the American do goodness.

The inspiration for this piece came from a Chinese movie I watched recently, in Russian, called The City of Life and Death. The movie is about a horrid historical incident that the West labeled as the Rape of Nanjing.

While watching it, I remember a piece of American flights of fantasy, where the Americans claimed that it was the Rape of Nanjing that caused them to cut off supplies of oil, rubber and scrap metal to the Japanese Empire, thus grinding down its expansionism and causing them to attack the Americans at Pearl Harbour, after which the Americans all but single handedly wiped up the Japanese Empire and saved the Pacific, the American marines leading the charge.

Sounds great, does it not? What material for morality lectures and Hollywood bilge.

The problem is, its all rubbish to the Nth degree. Outside of the fact that the Chinese, Soviet Union (us Russians), British, French, Belgians, Netherlanders, Australians, IndoChinese, Indians and others were fighting the Japanese long before the Americans got into the war, the whole causation of events is pure nonsense as well.

The Rape of Nanjing, a truly horrid episode in the truly horrid and violent history of Japan, was in 1937 and yet the Americans did not cut off Japanese supplies until 4 years later, starting the embargo in August 1941. Why so long? Why the morality wait that allowed the Japanese to continue expanding for almost another 4 years? Amongst other things, in 1937, the Nationalist Chinese were sponsored by Hitler's Nazi Germany as well as the Soviet Union, while the Japanese main sponsors were the Americans and British/French.

But there were some other key points that must be raised. A key even happened in 1939, two years after Nanjing, while the Japanese were the best of trading partners with the Americans. What was the event?

It was the Battle (or series of battles) of Khalkhin Gol, on the borders of Mongolia and Japanese occupied Manchuka (Manchuria). In May 1939, a border dispute between two small units of Mongolians and Japanese puppets, the Manchukans erupted into a major border war. While small by World War 2 standards, it was bigger than most wars.

Full battle erupted in July with a Japanese attack into Mongolia. The Japanese, with an army of some 80,000 men and a regiment of tanks, struck in a clever encirclement against the Soviet-Mongolian forces. Unfortunately for them, the force was commanded by General Greorgy Zhukov (later Marshal of the Soviet Union and conquerer of Berlin). Zhukov sensed the encirclement, counter maneuvered and drove the Japanese out, killing five thousand and destroying the armoured regiment.

In August, Zhukov counter struck. While the Japanese regrouped for their third bid, Zhukov struck. With three armoured and two mechanized brigades, Zhukov had additional three infantry divisions, armored reconnaissance, two motorized infantry divisions, two Mongolian cavalry divisions and an air army, a force of 50,000 men.

Against him stood two Manchukin infantry divisions, and 75,000 Japanese. Zhukov struck, separating out, double encircling the 23ID Japanese, and destroying that division. At this point, the Japanese stopped all action, began peace talks and signed a cease fire on 15 September. Soviet casualties were 23k, with one third killed, while Japanese casualties were in the neighborhood of 45k, with the majority killed, as the Japanese would not surrender.

The outcome of this battle was the removal of support from the North Strike Group, into Russia and the reinforcement of the South Strike Group into SE Asia.

The funny thing is, the break down in US and Japanese relations came shortly after that, by the end of 1940, when Japanese southern intentions were obvious and the fact that they would not venture north into Russia was a fact, the Americans no longer saw a reason to back them and by August 1941 cut their support for the Japanese economy by fully embargoing, thus absolutely assuring a Japanese attack.

So it becomes clear that the actual Anglo manipulations, just like those of the other Anglos, the British, in the Caucuses, stirring Turkey towards war with the Soviet Union, were alive and well, even as the storm gathered for WW2.

The American flights of fantasy, not only convince their own serfs into countless "good" wars, but are used to cover up their own crimes and manipulations while war profiteering at every step.

7 comments:

Lancey Howard said...

Not a very good piece. Certainly Zhukov's victories contributed to Japan's decision not to invade Siberia but turn on China. But by December, 1941 the Russians were on the brink of losing to Germany. The Japanese attacked America believing Russia was on the brink of defeat. The Russians made no further contribution to the war against Japan until the summer of 1945 after the US had essentially won the war. The British and Dutch had been completely routed by the Japanese. The fall of Singapore stands as probably the worst defeat in British military history. The United States defeated Japan. Period. Russia defeated Germany. Although both nations received allied support the basic equation is not up for debate. Do better next time.

Stanislav said...

@Lancy

Two things: the article was to demonstrate the revisionism of history, as the US claims they cut of aid to Japan because of Nanking, but that was 4 years after and really after Japan, with US backing, had fought a short war with Russia, lost and turned away.

Also, the US did not almost win the war, as the US was far from alone in that war. One can say, on the main land that the British/Australians/Vietnamese/Burmese and Indians, as well as Chinese killed by far a lot more Japanese then the US hopping island to island and had been fighting them since 1939 not 1942. Furthermore, that little Russian contribution was to take out a million man army in Manchuria, the main Japanese reserve which was being prepared to be ferried to Japan to resist a US landing.

That action alone probably saved the million or more US casualties that the Japanese invasion was counted at.

Anonymous said...

@lancey.Newsflash, the Chinese,Brits and their commonwealth forces carried a huge load in SE Asia before Pearl harbour ever happened. The US contribution was island hopping, naval activity and barborous use of nukes.Turn off the 'history' channel and realise it was called WORLD war for a reason.

Lancey Howard said...

Mr. Mishin,let me first state that I very much enjoy and respect your writing. But as a Russian you are perhaps oriented towards Eurasia and land wars. The struggle between the United States and Japan, 1941-45, was an epic conflict between the two greatest navies on earth. It was fought and won on the seas. Manchuria was a sideshow. The invincible United States Navy and the awesome Russian Army...that's the story of World War II.

Anonymous said...

I suppose 75 % casualties among U boat crews in the Atlantic counts for nothing . Along with sideshows like N Africa, 3 years of murder bombing in Europe and that little skirmish from Normandy to Berlin.All the land combat in the Pacific could be condensed into Kursk.Also American civillians suffered nothing except those who received the dreaded telegrams or wounded. The original article was to demonstrate American history or what passes for it.Methinks they protest too much.

Guy said...

Mr Howard

It is quite possible to say that the United States was the decisive nation in the Far East but to imagine that it won purely on its own efforts is quite wrong.

You are doing much the same as you accuse Mr Mishin of. If he views the world through Eurasia then you are seeing it purely in Pacific terms.

Nobody would doubt the strategic achievements of the American island hopping campaign, the naval battles, the atomic bombs and the nearly forgotten campaign in the Philippines.

But in turn you are ignoring the efforts of the British, Russians and Chinese. It was the Chinese that fought the longest war (and inflicted the most casualties), the British Empire that inflicted on the Japanese their largest defeat on land and the Russians who inflicted the single greatest defeat. If the Americans sank the Japanese Navy, nonetheless it was their allies who destroyed the Japanese Army.

America can certainly claim some of their credit as all three nations relied on American support. But nonetheless they paid far more in blood than they received in American supplies or finance. And one cannot simply reduce the entire war down to Russia and America without gross historical distortion. The war was too complex for that.

It would be as absurd as claiming that the First World War was won purely by Britain and France. Italy, Serbia, Greece and Russia may not have been decisive but by God they counted!

Anonymous said...

@Stas

You should read or view some of LaRouches material in regards to FDR and his actions against the British Empire which is on record that he wanted it dismantled including British actions in industrialising Germany for war against the USSR.

http://larouchepac.com/

Long before the recent Channel 5 documentary LaRouche revealed that US had a war plan strategy against Great Britain and perceived it as a potential threat up into the early 30’s.