Quote Originally Posted by Ozme52 View Post
In hindsight...from our own perspective, No. 1) We needed those troops in the Pacific. 2) No one has ever 'successfully' attacked Russia from the west. 3) Because though the relations were tense, we never had that head to head war Patton was predicting... AND 4) They were our allies. You have to do your best to stand by your allies... even if you don't particularly like them.
#1 - At the time this was believed true, but in hindsight the atom bombs did the job much better. Few, if any, of the regular troops from Europe made it to the Pacific in time to do any serious fighting.
#2 - I agree with you here. But remember, Napoleon did take Moscow, defeating the bulk of the Russian army at Borodino. The remnants of the Russian forces just sat it out in the steppes and Urals until winter drove the French out.
#3 - No, we didn't, and we're all glad about that! I didn't mean to imply that I agreed with Patton. He was a political nightmare, but a remarkable soldier.
#4 - I agree here, as well. Which is why...

That would have been the perfect time to invade, conquer, and leave Iraq's neighbors as occupation troops. No Great Satan. No that would have been the great in-and-out campaign the Shrub was hoping for.
... it would have been the WRONG time to invade. Our allies at the time, Saudi Arabia and the smaller Arab countries, did NOT want Iraq taken out at that time, mainly because it was an excellent buffer against the Iranians.

Hmmm... the Yugoslav and the Greek campaigns both started on April 6th 1941 and I think the 21 divisions was for both campaigns combined... but no reason to quibble as the point is... It takes far more troops to hold territory than it takes to conquer it.
The Italians invaded Greece at the end of October, 1940, because Mussolini was "jealous" of Hitler's successes in Europe. When the Greeks drove them back into Albania, humiliating the Fascists in Italy, Hitler added Greece to his plans against Yugoslavia in order to help Mussolini save face. The bulk of the German forces drove into, and through, Yugoslavia first, forcing the surrender in about 12 days. It took another 10 days to drive the British out of Greece.