"It should not go entirely unnoticed that it was OUR missiles, tanks, aircraft carriers, fighters, etc. that kept the Soviet Union from simply annexing most of Europe, giving them the luxury of using "dialogue" as their preferred method of dealing with enemies."

I think they fought in WWII, too. I'm sure of it. In fact, I don't think the US became involved in Europe, the war was all theirs, until Germany declared war on America. The US was willing to see the Europeans "buy it" until then.

The "dialogue" idea came later. It's not a bad one, to use in addition to eliminating the threats, partly because you can't eliminate all the threats. I read yesterday where the Dalai Lama suggested a dialogue between the opposing parties.

No American President could ever suggest it, and survive. Won't happen. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."

And, I told you the "cowboys" would make fun of it.

Since WWII the US has been heavily involved in assisting and protecting Europe. The Marshall Plan, NATO, and all that.

Truman was wise enough to see that Europe needed to rebuild, and the Marshall Plan funded the purchase of a lot of American goods for use in Europe's reconstruction. As time went on, successive American administrations were aware that a Western Europe dominated by the Soviet Union would not be a great market for American goods and services.

It's always money.

Arf