I'm finding this debate rather frustrating. You're clearly an intelligent and well-read fellow. I bear you no ill will. This shouldn't be so painful, but it is. I was enjoying intellectual the tete-a-tete, but now I am not.
First off, I don't like arguing against GB. I consider myself an Anglophile. I graduated from a British secondary in Montevideo, Uruguay. I enjoy watching football (come on, Arsenal!), the Mighty Boosh, and Doctor Who (Tom Baker is
the Doctor, for my money). I've been to England twice in the last four years.
Also, I'm one of the most reasonable and least jingoistic Americans on this board. I'll be the first to call out my country on foreign policy stumbles (I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq from the get-go) and regularly find myself as the sole American apologist for our biggest military rivals, Russia and China. I'm not trying to give the U.S.A. undue credit here.
That's just part of it, though. The other part of it is that it's almost impossible to debate someone who resorts to "yeah, so what?" as a response to legitimate arguments. I could just as easily respond "yeah, so what?" to your entire thesis!
So, I'll let you have the last word. This will be my last post in this thread. When your doctoral dissertation,
How the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union Could/Would have defeated the Axis Powers in Europe and Asia without any direct American Assistance* is vetted and accepted by the senior history faculty of a reputable university, then I will concede defeat. Until that time, "so what?"
*Although I am sure you will qualify your position again before then.