'a great increase in employment' in my previous post should be 'a great increase in unemployment'

Dear davidf,

If I may be so bold I fear your argument is incomplete. To agree that in all leadership there is “a taste for war” but then disagree that “in a democracy it is the people who check that propensity” surely begs the question what checks the propensity for war in the dictator?

Your otherwise well argued article also seems to suffer from this same omission. The conclusion you invite us to accept is that dictators are too busy quelling internal unrest to countenance hostilities outside their borders. I'm afraid history is a poor guide in this respect. Even if we take the most dictatorial of current nations, the horrendous North Korea, it would be difficult to make the case they are not overtly aggressive toward other nations.

Dear SteeleRedux,

In my article I pointed out the difference between popular and unpopular governments - not only democracies and other governmental forms. A dictatorship may also be popular. Through a large part of its rule Nazi Germany was also a popular government. The German people enthusiastically supported Hitler and the Nazis. The Soviet government was much less popular and the security apparatus to keep its people in line was much larger in proportion to the size of the population. The Soviet had a great deal of trouble when it invaded Finland. When the Nazis invaded many Soviet citizens joined them. It was only when the Nazis brutality towards the civilian population of the USSR became evident that that the Soviet resistance went into high gear.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/15/asia-pacific/jang-purge-shows-north-power-base-is-unstable/#.U05nBo0U_IU is a story that indicates that Kim's hold on power in North Korea is insecure.

Dear david f,

>>When the Nazis invaded many Soviet citizens joined them. It was only when the Nazis brutality towards the civilian population of the USSR became evident that that the Soviet resistance went into high gear.<<

You are so right here, but many Westerners do not realise it. Ukrainians (and also Russians) welcomed what they saw as the Westerners (the German army) as their liberators from the Soviet oppression and were terribly disappointed. Perhaps this can explain some Ukrainians' and Russians' distrust of Westerners even today. Like a woman will become suspicious of all males if after having just been raped is raped again by the man she thought came to rescue her.

Dear davidf,

It appears exactly the same scenario occurred in Iraq during the war. Take for instance the city of Fallujah whose mayor was initially an enthusiastic supporter of the American presence. The unprovoked and indiscriminate gunning down of protesters marching to express dismay at the occupation of a school served to quickly alienate the population. Further killings of protesters saw support of the occupation turn to support of insurgents and the rest is a bloody and brutal history.

Dear SteeleRedux,

Although I am an American and wish my country well I think you described what happened. Troops trained for combat are dehumanised as part of the training. In addition to that in Iraq many Americans had contempt for the 'ragheads' as they called them. I was in the US Army during WW2 and doubt that, except for the more sophisticated technology, much has changed. Since we were the victors in that war, we were never called to account for the atrocities we committed. With the US refusing to sign and ratify the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court we will continue evading responsibility for our crimes.