It is an interesting conjecture Rick poses. I do admit one of my fave films of all time is, you got it, Patton...I cannot imagine anyone else doing the role. I once worked for a lawyer in Chicago. Older guy. Missing his left arm from the elbow down. How'd it happen? Bastogne. He wept when he told me what Patton's 3rd did for him, and fully believes that were it not for the General, he wouldn't be here. He wept, and so did I. Notwithstanding Joe Toye's assessment of Patton's "rescue," (Please see HBO's Band of Brothers, "Bastogne,"), I admire the man.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070110/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/nicaragua_bolivia_mining Bolivia to nationalize mining industry ----------------------------- It's sad that the region seems to want to go backwards.
Badass. Probably the most important general durning the war. He saved a lot of troops many times. Hated by the media...but loved by his men. I just admire him a great-deal. While he wasn't quite prudent with his comments, I believe he truely meant what he said and believed what he could do. I think he would choke-under the standards given today, but I would love to have a general like this in the ranks. Here's a general view of Patton on Iraq and world war 2. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2718_133/ai_n12938305 And generally he was right. Allowing 'communism' to flourish led to many more deaths, dozens of countries in oppression, and to an arms race. Would have it been better otherwise? I don't know. But my mind thinks...maybe. I'm not going to say extreme fundamentalism will die with the middle east...but generally speaking it would help if those countries were free. It helped in Germany and Japan. America's general problem (post world war II) is when it commits, it fails to commit fully. One has to absolutely destroy the enemy, and help those left of some virtue to rise. That's just my opinion.