- - - - - Losing the Peace in 1946 - - - - -

According to this Life Magazine article of Jan 1946 (1st Page, 2nd Page), we were losing the Peace in Europe in 1946. Of course, we know how that turned out, don't we?

Excerpt: Never has American prestige in Europe been lower. People never tire of telling you of the ignorance and rowdy-ism of American troops, of our misunderstanding of European conditions. They say that the theft and sale of Army supplies by our troops is the basis of their black market. They blame us for the corruption and disorganization of UNRRA. They blame us for the fumbling timidity of our negotiations with the Soviet Union. They tell us that our mechanical de-nazification policy in Germany is producing results opposite to those we planned. “Have you no statesmen in America?” they ask.

Note that France and Germany want us out of Iraq Right Flaming Now.

France and Germany should remember that our occupation of Germany and Italy and assistance to the rest of Europe brought them a period of peace in Europe west of the former Warsaw Pact that is absolutely un-matched in all of European History.

"Well," I ask the Europeans, "Have you anyone who can read the Reader's Digest version of Modern European History?"