Dear Bartcop,

There was more to WWII than America's involvement and it is important
not to make the assumption that the Allies could not have won without
the US. I'm studying WWII and particularly America's part and there is a
lot of interesting information.

Some would argue that Germany could never win WWII after they lost the
Battle of Britain. As long as Britain had air superiority, there was no way for
Germany to effect a successful invasion and, because they would continue to
be bombed by the RAF, no way for them craft any kind of effective victory.

We can't discount the Pacific War either - which arguably would not have
happened were it not for FDR and Cordell Hull crafting what some would
argue was a purposely racist foreign policy towards Japan - almost forcing
them into a conflict. It is interesting that both aircraft carriers stationed at
Pearl Harbour were moved out just a couple of days before the attack...

Russia didn't win because it was cold, Russia won because of a number
of reasons. One of them was the weather, another was the terrain, a
third was the sheer force of numbers. Other reasons were the psychological
effects of the Eastern Russian landscape that played havoc with German
soldiers - no matter how far they marched, the landscape never changed
- it was damaging to them from a morale point of view. Also, Russia
made Germany fight for every square inch of land - they burned towns to
the ground rather than let Germany take them - and 1 in 10 Russians died
during WWII - either from the war itself or from starvation.

The US was partly responsible for opening up the war in the Pacific
anyway, which meant that a lot of troops had to be diverted there. Oliver
North may like to say that the US were the only ones involved in the
Pacific, but this simply isn't so. The Australians were in New Guinea,
Bouganville - the Kokoda Trail is one that people often remember. The
Dutch were involved and so were the British. However, giving the US the
credit they deserved - they did fight most of the war in the Pacific -
and they won it. But some would argue that they helped to cause it too.

The point is that if you want to establish a thing like Project 60 it is important
to remember what other people did too. There is a very common attitude that
America is the saviour of the Western World and is responsible for single-
handedly winning WWII. There is more of an argument to suggest that the US
saved the West in WWI - this is certainly something that did not rely on many
other elements. America plugged the gaps in the Western Front and prevented
the Germans from breaking through in the Spring Offensives - they saved Britain
then, but it far less black-and-white in WWII.

By 1941 Britain was gaining the initiative back. Hitler's attempted invasion of
Britain had failed and he had lost a hell of a lot of pilots as a result - and could not
gain aerial superiority. Operation Barbarossa into Russia had been delayed, which
allowed Stalin to find Zuhkov out in Siberia and get him to train their conscripted troops.
And the German generals were starting to get really pissed off with Hitler - it wasn't
long before Rommel et al tried to assassinate him.

You also noted that there was lots of defence in Europe but not much offense.
This could not be further from the truth. WWI was the defensive war in which nothing
happened. WWII was - and always has been described as - a war of movement:
Germany invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, France. America was instrumental in the
invasion of Normandy - but they certainly weren't the only ones there. People talk about
the amazing effort at Omaha Beach and how many American soldiers died - but they
weren't the only troops that landed and they wouldn't have endured such a pounding at
the beginning if they had landed in the right place. The same can be said for the British
and the Aussies at Galipoli.

Not everything is black-and-white and America is not solely
responsible for saving the world from Fascism.

That said, though, your site is fantastic - not so much because it's a good retaliation
against right-wing partisan rancour, but more so, I find, because it does a fantastic job
of just pointing out to people how ridiculous people like Rush Limbaugh are and how
hypocritical they are for saying the things they say.

Hope Project 60 continues to go well.

Cheers.

Josh
Sydney, Australia