irishmick79 wrote:Yes, Germany and Japan did have a formal alliance with each other. But a closer examination of that alliance reveals that the alliance was not as strong as the title suggests. The two nations were virtually unable to provide anything other than intelligence and moral support in their war efforts. Hitler's goals for a german "super race" did not exactly make for "asia friendly" diplomacy, and Japan's own anti-western policies made the two nation odd bedfellows. It was more a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," then an actual working partnership. It's that exact same principle that makes men like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein odd bed fellows as well. A common enemy is a very powerful motivator when it comes to making new friends....
Germany, Japan and Italy formed the Axis. Inherent friends or not, a declaration of war by one of them equaled a declaration of war by the others. IIRC, Germany didn't even like Japan's strike at the U.S, and didn't want to go at war with the U.S, but were forced by the treaty to do it, nonetheless.
And as far as the threat goes, you can also turn around and argue that the United States at the time of World War two was not entirely aware of the threat of the nazis when it came to the holocaust. For along time, the United States refused to accept European Jews, despite the fact that they were being persecuted in large numbers. Many in the United States seemed perfectly willing to stick their heads in the sand when it came to the nazis, and thought that a more peaceful coexistance could have been possible, despite the evidence that they were slaughtering large portions of the European population.
The U.S population opinion is irrelevant. The U.S had no choice other than to fight the Nazis, since Germany first declared war on them. Although The fact that the U.S didn't enter the war earlier (before the war came to them) is related to the apathy you mentioned.
While WMD's isn't exactly the same thing, the attitude and approach to the threat is similar. Some people seem to be perfectly willing to ignore the possibility of WMD's in Iraq until the proverbial "smoking gun" shows up. Others prefer to take action about the possibility quickly without full confirmation of the threat's existance. The only way the United States woke up to the concentration camps was by sending armed troops into occupied Europe and liberating the camps themselves. The only way the United States would realize extent of the WMD threat in Iraq would be to send in armed troops and find the sites within Iraq.
Germany didn't allow inspectors in the concentration camps, nor the U.S had the power to demand them in. Iraq, on the other hand, was forced to give unconditional access to all locations, and still the inspectors found nothing worthy of invasion.
oh, and one other thing....
Hitler - declared war on US.....got ass kicked by allied forces....did not survive the war
Hussein - openly participates in Jihad against the US (nobody goes for formal declarations of war nowadays....kind of sad actually), got ass kicked by coalition forces in 1st gulf war.....still in power
Actually, that's wrong. In GW1, Saddam invaded Koweit fully expecting U.S blessing, or at least not interfering. He was, after all, America's man. The war was not against the U.S, was against his neighbours, much like Iran's war, which was backed by the U.S.
Saddam's dislike for the west comes from us spoiling his fun.
might have only been a rumor i don`t know. 
