Comment by thg | Hacker News Reader

Comment by thg | Hacker News Reader

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> The US government never supported Hitler.

Breckinridge Long is the very first name to prove that wrong. He was the US Secretary of State at the time Hitler was in power and gave Henry Ford permission to buy Nazi tanks while purposely preventing Jewish refugees from entering the US. He and Roosevelt also gave permission to the US companies I mentioned above to continue trading with Nazi Germany during war times.

For them, it wasn't so much about liberty and human rights as it was about business. That's still the case today. The US #1 trade partner is China, who happens to have a pathetic human rights record and is also still occupying Tibet. But opposing them in any way would be bad for business, so it gets shoved under the rug.

Out of sight, out of mind.

The US was neutral and did business with both allied and axis powers at that point. We nevertheless tipped the scales strongly in favor of the allies with the lend lease act, for example. And the historical record is pretty clear that from the beginning of the war, Roosevelt was itching for a reason to jump in on the allied side. Your anti-American historical revisionism is contrary to the facts.

The idea that the US should stop doing business with China is ridiculous. As a major nuclear power with an economy that within in a decade or two could surpass ours in total output, America is in no position to do anything about China's internal affairs. Ending trade with China would cause extreme economic damage and internal unrest in the United States. It would be a phenomenally stupid sword for America to fall on.

You're right in general though. America's main interest after the security of ourselves and our allies is open and peaceful commerce between nations.

You stated that the US government never supported Hitler and I disproved that by mentioning but a single name.

You got me with Roosevelt, though. I merely mentioned him for completeness sake, not to single him out. That was badly worded on my part.

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