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Bush Says U.S. Should Have Bombed WWII Death Camp
FoxNews ^ | Friday, January 11, 2008 | AP

Posted on 01/11/2008 5:54:03 AM PST by SolidWood

JERUSALEM — President Bush had tears in his eyes during an hour-long tour of Israel's Holocaust memorial Friday and told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the U.S. should have bombed Auschwitz to halt the killing, the memorial's chairman said.

Bush emerged from a tour of the Yad Vashem memorial calling it a "sobering reminder" that evil must be resisted, and praising victims for not losing their faith.

...(snip)

Bush was visibly moved as he toured the site, said Yad Vashem's chairman, Avner Shalev.

"Twice, I saw tears well up in his eyes," Shalev said.

At one point, Bush viewed aerial photos of the Auschwitz camp taken during the war by U.S. forces and called Rice over to discuss why the American government had decided against bombing the site, Shalev said.

The Allies had detailed reports about Auschwitz during the war from Polish partisans and escaped prisoners. But they chose not to bomb the camp, the rail lines leading to it, or any of the other Nazi death camps, preferring instead to focus all resources on the broader military effort, a decision that became the subject of intense controversy years later.

...(snip)

"We should have bombed it," Bush said, according to Shalev.

In the memorial's visitors' book, the president wrote simply, "God bless Israel, George Bush."

...

"I was most impressed that people in the face of horror and evil would not forsake their God. In the face of unspeakable crimes against humanity, brave souls — young and old — stood strong for what they believe," Bush said.

"I wish as many people as possible would come to this place. It is a sobering reminder that evil exists, and a call that when evil exists we must resist it," he said.

...

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: auschwitz; bush; bushvisit; germany; holocaust; israel; wwii
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To: mfnorman

That is not true. FDR was made aware of the situation. Many Jews actually begged him to bomb the death camps, or at least the railroad lines taking the Jews to their doom. I always tell my students this when I teach the Holocaust and WWII. I want them to know what FDR was really like, not what the textbook says about him.


21 posted on 01/11/2008 6:19:44 AM PST by goodwithagun (My gun has killed less people than Ted Kennedy's car.)
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To: HD1200
I know you are joking but there is a group of people that claim that the Allies caused the holocaust because they bombed the roads used to bring food to the camps. I am not kidding.
22 posted on 01/11/2008 6:21:02 AM PST by mad_as_he$$ (Hillary cried, New Hampshire died.)
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To: mfnorman

I think they were not aware of the level of atrocities that were occurring. Likely the reason they didn’t bomb them was the risk of hurting civilians and captures Allied prisoners.

However, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have gone after the rail lines. Cutting off Germany’s main transport system should have gone a long way to ending the war earlier.


23 posted on 01/11/2008 6:22:44 AM PST by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: mad_as_he$$

well, in their favor, at least they are not HOLOCAUST deniers,,,,,,,they actually are admitting the holocaust happened, but it was ALL our fault...........


24 posted on 01/11/2008 6:27:06 AM PST by HD1200
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To: SolidWood

I stand corrected. Thanks.


25 posted on 01/11/2008 6:27:30 AM PST by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Milwaukee_Guy

Yes, but if the POW camp isn’t that, but actually a means to kill millions of prisoners, it stands to reason that you might save more lives by bombing than doing nothing.

Apparently this was heavily debated by the Allies, and the reason they chose to NOT bomb the camp was because they wanted to concentrate on winning the war.


26 posted on 01/11/2008 6:30:43 AM PST by tortdog
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To: tortdog
Some recent research on WWII, and discussion asks why we didn’t bomb the German support operations for the camps (supply trains, infrastructure). Some suggesting that doing this would have saved lives.

I believe the reason they didn’t was because of the early commitment in 1942/43 to bomb the Luftwaffe factories and destroy them in the air. They decided that it wouldn’t be possible to invade France if this goal wasn’t achieved. And in 43/44 there wasn’t enough aircraft to divert to any other purpose. Then after D-Day destroying the petroleum industry became the major effort.

***I couldn’t say whether bombing it would have prevented the atrocities. Probably couldn’t have made it worse.***

27 posted on 01/11/2008 6:50:56 AM PST by msnpatriot
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To: All

Bush cried, terrorists lied, Jews died

If Bush was truly moved by this experience, he would not try to re-create this by negotiating w Islamic terrorists who want to eliminate all Jews from the Middle East.

The WOT is over, as Bush is now negotiating w the terrorists


28 posted on 01/11/2008 6:53:25 AM PST by UCFRoadWarrior (Duncan Hunter: The Man Who Should Be President)
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To: Candor7
You honestly believe Barack Obama is an Islamofascist that wants to take up the cause of genocide? Wow!

This is almost like the Bush NWO 9/11 kinda stuff.

29 posted on 01/11/2008 6:56:35 AM PST by zencat (The universe is not what it appears, nor is it something else.)
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To: SolidWood

I really, really, want to see James Carville crying like a girl.

That would be fun.


30 posted on 01/11/2008 7:00:16 AM PST by dforest (Duncan Hunter is the best hope we have on both fronts.)
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To: zencat
I was quite amazed. Look at the sources. Its a bomb!

Obama and Odinga are paternal 1st cousins, according to Odinga.

Yes Obama is a stone cold Islamofascist.

Its not NWO. ITS OWO.

All ya gotta do is read and weep.

Those facts are NOT made up.

The British papers are full of it, they have close ties with Kenya. Here in America, the MSM is feathering Obummers nest. Very few columnists dare tackle the dragon, Danial Pipes is trying his best.

Ask yourself why Black America is so ambivalent about Obama's candidacy. They know the kind of creature he is.Whitey is playing catch up. THINK for heavens sakes!

The question is will we catch up in time.

31 posted on 01/11/2008 7:03:21 AM PST by Candor7
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To: SolidWood

Does this mean Eric Rudolph is going to get a presidential pardon before Bush leaves office?


32 posted on 01/11/2008 7:06:55 AM PST by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: edcoil

“Radar was not invented yet, we could not fly to find them almost until the end of the war.”
_________________

Correction. Radar was invented in the early 20th century and was used throughout WWII. Japanese aircraft were first noticed flying towards Pearl Harbor on RADAR, but were assummed to be a squadron of US BOmbers that were training that weekend.


33 posted on 01/11/2008 7:15:28 AM PST by awake-n-angry
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To: Badeye
Not so different from all the Iraq second-guessing, really. Everyone wants to hold the President to the standard of how he should have acted had he known everything he knew now, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the CIA barely has the capability of finding out what's going on right now, much less predicting the future.

They also forget to consider everything that might have happened had he not made the decisions he did. No one remembers that every act, or omission, carries an opportunity cost.
34 posted on 01/11/2008 7:27:23 AM PST by The Pack Knight (Duty, Honor, Country.)
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To: The Pack Knight

‘Not so different from all the Iraq second-guessing, really. Everyone wants to hold the President to the standard of how he should have acted had he known everything he knew now, while conveniently ignoring the fact that the CIA barely has the capability of finding out what’s going on right now, much less predicting the future.’

That was one of the motivators for my post.


35 posted on 01/11/2008 7:29:05 AM PST by Badeye (No thanks, Huck, I'm not whitewashing the fence for you this election cycle)
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To: Candor7

“Mandingo”?????

Are your sheets at the laundry, Mistuh Candor?


36 posted on 01/11/2008 7:32:34 AM PST by headsonpikes (Genocide is the highest sacrament of socialism.)
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To: headsonpikes
Nope. I do my own laundry.

Mandingo is a great book. Have you read it?

And I have absolutely no hesitation at being politically incorrect in the fight against Islamofascism.

Too many people tippy toe around Obummer. He's a stone cold Islamofascist.

Kenya has been ruined . Ever been ?

I have.

Obama deserves to be sent over to the Kikuyu for judgement. The Masai would be a nice addition.

37 posted on 01/11/2008 7:37:21 AM PST by Candor7
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To: headsonpikes
Check it out, if you dare.

How Obama and 1st paternal cousin Odinga Tried to Bring Kenya Under Sharia Law and Failed, The Dose

38 posted on 01/11/2008 7:38:15 AM PST by Candor7
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To: awake-n-angry

OK Sportsfans,

Yes of course radar existed during WW2. In limited versions. The originals were, like any technology, huge affairs unavailable for practical aircraft use. But of course, by the end of the war, radar equipped “night fighters” did exist.

I doubt a POW camp would have been significantly observable on the radar of those days.


39 posted on 01/11/2008 7:40:20 AM PST by petertare (--)
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To: awake-n-angry

Broad radar was from base stations and why the germans had such a great defense however, accurate radar and most importantly bomb targeting were not through the airforce on planes.


40 posted on 01/11/2008 7:44:03 AM PST by edcoil
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