Why are the Crimes of Stalinism Overlooked?

[DBTrek]

And especially after the publication of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn book there was absolutely no credibility in denying the effects of Stalinism.

That's the quote that cracks me up.

Denying the effects of Stalinism?
Well . . . that's a pretty mixed bag, isn't it?
I mean, the major effect of Stalinism is it took a third-rate Russian monarchy presiding over a bunch of backward agrarians and turned it into A MODERNIZED NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER WITH THE MOST POWERFUL STANDING ARMY ON EARTH in a matter of decades.

That's pretty unprecedented, given the span of all of human history.


But did you die?

On the downside . . . you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette, eh comrade?
Like . . . a lot of eggs.
Even more eggs.

[Ex-California]

After the war Japan had a scramble much like the end of the USSR where organized crime took over the pieces and the US was far more concerned with stopping the very real threat of communist parties taking over Japan and chose to back Yakuza gangs. I believe it's likely the US doesn't give a shit about the rape of Nanking and the hospital 7 or whatever experiments that Japan did. And also, fuck China.

Well, there's also the whole story about how the US agreed not to prosecute Unit 731 and such for war crimes in exchange for the data they gathered there.

Its all good though, Japanese are my favorite non-Western people. They make the best cars too

[TheReal_ND]

Stalin was a fairly hard core dude. There is still a great divide among communists between the Trotskiests and Stalinists. The US ended up getting many Jewish Trotskiest refugees when Stalin began his purge and they went on to form what we know now as the Neo-Con political movement. Bill Krystal's father was one of the founding members of the movement.

[GloryofGreece]

Wait . . . are people wondering why more US soldiers didn't express outrage at Stalin and his Red Army, who pretty much took the Nazis down single-handedly?
I guess they weren't that mad about it.
I imagine taking down Hitler mattered more to them than what some iron-fisted dictator did in his own country.
The world's problems weren't the US taxpayers problems back then.

What I mean more specifically is that they didn't understand the "threat" of communism or the aggression of Stalin etc. Wasn't it Patton that something to the affect that we should use Nazi soldiers to takeout Russia? Within a couple years we were quite literally in the thick of it with Russia/China/Korea etc. And I'd think it would be rather ironic to be sitting state side and over hear academics, politicians, journalist etc. praising "communism" or even socialism when so many had to know what Uncle Joe was capable of.

[GloryofGreece]

After the war Japan had a scramble much like the end of the USSR where organized crime took over the pieces and the US was far more concerned with stopping the very real threat of communist parties taking over Japan and chose to back Yakuza gangs. I believe it's likely the US doesn't give a shit about the rape of Nanking and the hospital 7 or whatever experiments that Japan did. And also, fuck China.

Well, there's also the whole story about how the US agreed not to prosecute Unit 731 and such for war crimes in exchange for the data they gathered there.

Its all good though, Japanese are my favorite non-Western people. They make the best cars too

Just found out about that myself not to long ago. It still makes more sense that Americans were embracing Japanese militarism b/c well Japan was annihilated where as Russia was the other power that "won" the war and wasn't completely neutered by it.

[Martin Hash]

Here's some crazy shit: in June 1942, Germany had 27 battalions on the Western Front & 180 on the Eastern Front, and Aug 1943 there were 46 on the Western & 189 on the Eastern, and it was like that most of the war. USSR defeated the Nazis.

[TheReal_ND]

After the war Japan had a scramble much like the end of the USSR where organized crime took over the pieces and the US was far more concerned with stopping the very real threat of communist parties taking over Japan and chose to back Yakuza gangs. I believe it's likely the US doesn't give a shit about the rape of Nanking and the hospital 7 or whatever experiments that Japan did. And also, fuck China.

Well, there's also the whole story about how the US agreed not to prosecute Unit 731 and such for war crimes in exchange for the data they gathered there.

Its all good though, Japanese are my favorite non-Western people. They make the best cars too

Just found out about that myself not to long ago. It still makes more sense that Americans were embracing Japanese militarism b/c well Japan was annihilated where as Russia was the other power that "won" the war and wasn't completely neutered by it.

We also built them the at the time largest steel press in the world. I worked on a 400k ton press in Los Angeles that was partially manufactured by the Japanese press we built them. It was about four or five stories tall from well to mast. I think the one in Japan is still in use. Basically we did all we could to create an immediate and permanent bulwark against communism for a very good race of people.

[GloryofGreece]

Here's some crazy shit: in June 1942, Germany had 27 battalions on the Western Front & 180 on the Eastern Front, and Aug 1943 there were 46 on the Western & 189 on the Eastern, and it was like that most of the war. USSR defeated the Nazis.

And I can understand why most Americans weren't overtly anti russia in the late 1940s. But it still astonishing that socialism and communism were apologized for if not down right embraced by so many in journalism, academia, and politics around the 1960s still and by then you couldn't really honestly deny the atrocities of Stalin without at least blushing or being completely delusional.

[Ex-California]

Here's some crazy shit: in June 1942, Germany had 27 battalions on the Western Front & 180 on the Eastern Front, and Aug 1943 there were 46 on the Western & 189 on the Eastern, and it was like that most of the war. USSR defeated the Nazis.

Absolutely. Those numbers are insane

[Ex-California]

Well, there's also the whole story about how the US agreed not to prosecute Unit 731 and such for war crimes in exchange for the data they gathered there.

Its all good though, Japanese are my favorite non-Western people. They make the best cars too

Just found out about that myself not to long ago. It still makes more sense that Americans were embracing Japanese militarism b/c well Japan was annihilated where as Russia was the other power that "won" the war and wasn't completely neutered by it.

We also built them the at the time largest steel press in the world. I worked on a 400k ton press in Los Angeles that was partially manufactured by the Japanese press we built them. It was about four or five stories tall from well to mast. I think the one in Japan is still in use. Basically we did all we could to create an immediate and permanent bulwark against communism for a very good race of people.

Too bad nationbuliding like that has never worked again.

But then again, Iraqis aren't exactly Japanese