You are right that most socialists in the USA at that time supported the Allies against the Axis, including the USA against Japan, but that is because most socialists were Communists, other parties and tendencies being minuscule. (Here's the SWP "statement on the U.S. Entry into World War II" from _The Socialist Workers Party in World War II_: <http://www.themilitant.com/2003/6707/670749.html>.) The question is what approach socialists in imperial powers should take in an inter-imperialist war: support the more progressive imperial powers against the others? Doing so costs you your political independence, which leaves you more vulnerable to attacks once imperialists decide that they can attack _you_ now that they have vanquished the most important enemies and made peace with the rest. That's what happened to American Communists after World War 2. The Communists had disarmed themselves politically during the war. The same goes for the Japanese left: to this day, they still cling to Clause Nine of the Constitution imposed by the occupier, unable to chart a strategy that would allow them to battle the Japanese Right and US imperialism at the same time. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osudivest.org/> * Al-Awda-Ohio: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Al-Awda-Ohio> * Solidarity: <http://solidarity.igc.org/>