Is the USA the greatest country in the world?

[IowaBayDog]

the war was far from lost before US involvement. the battle of britan had been won and montgomery had driven Rommel back to Tunsia. The 6th army was beeing wiped out at Stalingrad thus reducing the germans of 25% of there overall army. The US never participated in a major european battle before 1943 and that was at the Kasserine Pass and we all now who won that battle. To maintain that WW2 was won primarily by the USA is just plain wrong at least in europe. We measure success by who does the fighting and very clearly the Soviets and there allies did the lions share. Many US veterans would be appalled to hear you disparage Americas many allies in the fight against Nazism

I didn't disparage the allies, you disparged my country's effort in bringing down tyranny in the world. I have spent time with MANY US veterans of WWII and I never heard 1 ever say, boy those French were real fighters, they did have plenty of comments about them and our other allies. Singing the praises of the Soviets is not something I ever heard in the halls of the VFW either. Your original contention was with the statement about the U.S. freeing people from tyranny, are you now trying to make us believe you think the Stalin led Soviet Union freed people from tyranny?

[stoney]

Im not disparaging any countries efforts to defeat tyrannts or terrorists. I simply corrected the wild assertions from another post that tried to maintain that the US was responsible for freeing western europe x2. I meerly pointed out that the soviets were the dominate factor in WW2 and their victories indirectly contributed to the successful liberation in the west. We are all fully aware of the evil that Stalin inflicted on the eastern european block but it is hard to see how D Day could ever have been successful had the Soviets not tied down 120 of germanys best divisions on the eastern front

[Patrick Johndrow]

the war was far from lost before US involvement. the battle of britan had been won and montgomery had driven Rommel back to Tunsia. The 6th army was beeing wiped out at Stalingrad thus reducing the germans of 25% of there overall army. The US never participated in a major european battle before 1943 and that was at the Kasserine Pass and we all now who won that battle. To maintain that WW2 was won primarily by the USA is just plain wrong at least in europe. We measure success by who does the fighting and very clearly the Soviets and there allies did the lions share. Many US veterans would be appalled to hear you disparage Americas many allies in the fight against Nazism

I retrospect we should have let the Germans have Europe...or should I say I wish we had let them have Europe.

[Hew]

Lots of countries played important roles in WWII, but I think there's little doubt that without America, WWII would have resulted in the bulk of Europe speaking German and the bulk of Asia speaking Japanese, and millions more Jews, gypsies and "defectives" entirely exterminated from a few contintents. Even more important than America's military might (which was considerable) was her industrial might. American aid to the Soviet Union and other allies was substantial and a more-than-significant reason why the Allies prevailed.

[subroc]

...The reality is that none of us would welcome invasion from another country to save us from ourselves...

This is probably true, but, I expect the Somali people would welcome an invasion to save themselves from themselves.

I also expect, world wide, they are not alone.

[tpaschal30]

Im not disparaging any countries efforts to defeat tyrannts or terrorists. I simply corrected the wild assertions from another post that tried to maintain that the US was responsible for freeing western europe x2. I meerly pointed out that the soviets were the dominate factor in WW2 and their victories indirectly contributed to the successful liberation in the west. We are all fully aware of the evil that Stalin inflicted on the eastern european block but it is hard to see how D Day could ever have been successful had the Soviets not tied down 120 of germanys best divisions on the eastern front

In one way you maybe right. If we had not saved them in WW1, there would be no need to saved them in WW2.

[kjrice]

Lots of countries played important roles in WWII, but I think there's little doubt that without America, WWII would have resulted in the bulk of Europe speaking German and the bulk of Asia speaking Japanese, and millions more Jews, gypsies and "defectives" entirely exterminated from a few contintents. Even more important than America's military might (which was considerable) was her industrial might. American aid to the Soviet Union and other allies was substantial and a more-than-significant reason why the Allies prevailed.

How dare you speak the facts!

[Matt McKenzie]

I asked this question neither to stir the pot nor to start another Left vs. Right or Democrat vs. Republican thread. It just occurred to me that there are two groups in this country: those who believe that we live in the greatest country in the world and those who do not. I think it might be a sort of glass half empty/glass half full phenomenon. Or maybe a significant portion of our population has succumbed to an overwhelming onslaught of “blame America first” rhetoric that started in the 1960’s and has been gaining strength ever since.
Like all nations, the United States of America has had its good times and bad, times of prosperity and times of economic strife. As a country, we have been responsible for some of the greatest accomplishments as well as some of the gravest tragedies in the history of mankind. I use the term, “as a country” because our Republic is a government, “of the People, by the People and for the People”. The actions of our government are the responsibility of each of us as individuals. The accomplishments of our fellow citizens are the accomplishments of us all and we can and should share in the pride that results.
I have spent all of my adult life in service to my country because I believe that it is beyond all doubt the greatest country on Earth. While imperfect, the USA has provided more positive contributions to her own citizens and to the rest of the world than any other nation and possibly more than all other nations combined. The “glass half empty” crowd will be quick to point out our shortcomings and our mistakes. They will pick the nits to find the worst examples of domestic and foreign policy blunders to support the idea that we are somehow immoral, unethical or simply evil. Some will do this to reinforce their belief that one political party or another is out to destroy the world.
But I base my belief on what I have seen here in America and what I’ve seen in the sixty-some-odd countries that I’ve had the opportunity to visit. I believe that there is no other country on earth where an individual has more opportunity to improve his station in life through hard work and dedication. Each of us has a chance to succeed or fail based on our own efforts and abilities. Contrary to what the nay-sayers tell us, anyone can receive a quality education in this country. Anyone. Our economy is struggling right now, but still provides more opportunity for quality jobs and a higher standard of living than almost anywhere else in the world.
We are so rich as a nation that our poor people are fat! Many of those who live below the “poverty line” would be considered wealthy in over half the countries of the world. Our poor have cell phones and cable TV. Other countries have poor that would die of starvation if not for charity from American citizens. As individuals, we give more to charity than the citizens of any other country. Many times more.
We lead the world in technological advances in everything from military to medicine, from computers to cows. Space travel, global shipping, satellite communication, you name it, we perfect it. Are we the best at everything? Of course not. Just at most things.
Here we can select where we want to live, what we want to choose as a profession, how we want to raise and educate our children, what religion we want to follow, what political party we want to join and we take it for granted that these are rights that cannot be taken away. But I fear that there are those who are slowly and relentlessly chipping away at these liberties in the name of “fairness”. Many of them mean well and honestly believe that we can improve as a country by penalizing those who produce wealth in order to reward those who do not. I disagree with this concept and am afraid that we have passed the point of no return in our journey from a nation of individuals toward a collective society. There are numerous historical examples of the folly of this transition, but perhaps it is the natural order of things for a society to evolve from liberty to tyranny. Many believe that showing weakness to our enemies will make them treat us with respect. I disagree with this, as well.
But as of today, I still believe that the USA is the greatest nation on Earth. If that makes me an extreme right-wing, war-mongering ditto-head, so be it.