While Hitler was defying one treaty after another to build his massive military, other European nations (including England) looked for ways to appease Hitler and did whatever they could to avoid conflict with him.
It was obvious what Hitler was up to during the 1930s. The world knew about the persecution of the Jews and the concentration camps. The world knew that Hitler wasn't going to stop with reoccupying the Rhineland. Wasn't going to stop with absorbing Austria. And so on and so on. But you had your "peace activists" as you do today decrying any effort at all to deal with Hitler.
During this dangerous time, it is obvious that rogue nations and terrorist groups are looking for weapons of mass destruction to use against western civilization. Yet these same peace activist types are demonizing the few leaders (like they demonized Winston Churchill during the 1930s) who have stepped up to the plate to do something about it.
I think these peace activists, of the type who are protesting Bush in England today, are as reprehensible as the "peace for our time" folks of the 1930s.
When will we learn that pacifying evil never works?
It may eclipse the Reagan speech because Reagan was referencing a war that had been underway for 30 years. Reagans speech was the last rites for the USSR.
Bush's speech on the otherhand, is an opening statement on the new war on global islamofascism. He has unabashedly placed the war on terrorism in the same category of severity as the pre-WWII NAZIism.
In a very real way this speech launches WWIV.
The Cold War qualifies as WWIII.
Actually, Americans heard very little stories about the concentration camps until after the war was over. It wasn't a major news item here before or during the war.
President George W. Bush has learned.
Mary
GWB's historic UK speech today -- "We did not charge hundreds of miles into the heart of Iraq and pay a bitter cost of casualties and liberate 25 million people only to retreat before a band of thugs and assassins.