Originally posted by Momus--
Your legal objections are baseless since the separate treaties with the Central Powers allowed for you to participate in the enforcement of the peace.
You do so like to tell only your side of the story don't you. "Allowed" has nothing..repeat nothing... in common with "obligated". We were free to choose and we were not bound to do anything at all.
Tough for your argument but there it is.
To wit:
(2) That the United States shall not be bound by the provisions of Part I of that Treaty, nor by any provisions of that Treaty including those mentioned in paragraph (I) of this Article, which relate to the Covenant of the League of Nations, nor shall the United States be bound by any action taken by the League of Nations, or by the Council or by the Assembly thereof, unless the United States shall expressly give its assent to such action.
(3) That the United States assumes no obligations under or with respect to the provisions of Part II, Part III, Sections 2 to 8 inclusive of Part IV, and Part XIII of that Treaty.
(4) That, while the United States is privileged to participate in the Reparation Commission, according to the terms of Part VIII of that Treaty, and in any other Commission established under the Treaty or under any agreement supplemental thereto, [the United States is not bound to participate in any such commission unless it shall elect to do so.
See any common elements in the Treaty with Germany there? I bet even you see them.
We were not bound, not obliged to do ANYTHING we didn't want to do in any way shape or form.
I know that's just an incredibly foreign thought for a lot of Euros but it's the truth.
And, it's historically obvious that the US wanted no part of European entanglements after the war. The end of WW1 began a period of isolationism that lasted until the Japanese attack at Pearl.
So it's historically correct that the US had NO OBLIGATIONS with respect to the Treaty of Versailles other than those
we freely chose to accept or do. It's also historically correct that the vast majority of the US public became even more isolationist after WW1. Particular evidence of this is the passage of the Neutrality Acts here as the war clouds gathered over Europe for the second time.
The pyromaniacs got out of hand once again; their own fire departments couldn't handle the blaze. Once again, the fire department half a world away had to be called.
That last time you got what you wanted. A US that decided it HAD to enforce the peace or there would be yet another world war in Pyromania.
How are you liking the way it's turning out now?
