Posted on 02/10/2005 12:32:19 PM PST by Heebert
A few days ago Henryk M. Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag, "Europe -- your family name is appeasement." It's a phrase you can't get out of your head because it's so terribly true.
Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their lives as England and France, allies at the time, negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to agreements. Appeasement stabilized communism in the Soviet Union and East Germany in that part of Europe where inhuman, suppressive governments were glorified as the ideologically correct alternative to all other possibilities. Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant in Kosovo and we Europeans debated and debated until the Americans came in and did our work for us.
Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East, European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians. Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe to ignore 300,000 victims of Saddam's torture and murder machinery and, motivated by the self-righteousness of the peace-movement, to issue bad grades to George Bush. A particularly grotesque form of appeasement is reacting to the escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in Holland and elsewhere by suggesting that we should really have a Muslim holiday in Germany.
What else has to happen before the European public and its political leadership get it? There is a sort of crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians and directed against our free, open Western societies. It is a conflict that will most likely last longer than the great military conflicts of the last century -- a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot be tamed by tolerance and accommodation but only spurred on by such gestures, which will be mistaken for signs of weakness.
Two recent American presidents had the courage needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush. Reagan ended the Cold War and Bush, supported only by the social democrat Blair acting on moral conviction, recognized the danger in the Islamic fight against democracy. His place in history will have to be evaluated after a number of years have passed.
In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic self-confidence in the multicultural corner instead of defending liberal society's values and being an attractive center of power on the same playing field as the true great powers, America and China. On the contrary-we Europeans present ourselves, in contrast to the intolerant, as world champions in tolerance, which even (Germany's Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes. Why? Because we're so moral? I fear it's more because we're so materialistic.
For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar, huge amounts of additional national debt and a massive and persistent burden on the American economy-because everything is at stake.
While the alleged capitalistic robber barons in American know their priorities, we timidly defend our social welfare systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive. We'd rather discuss the 35-hour workweek or our dental health plan coverage. Or listen to TV pastors preach about "reaching out to murderers." These days, Europe reminds me of an elderly aunt who hides her last pieces of jewelry with shaking hands when she notices a robber has broken into a neighbor's house. Europe, thy name is cowardice.
"All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke.
Don't worry Mr. Burke some of us get it and will fight.
He lost me right there in the 2nd paragraph...there was no "genocide" in Kosovo. That was a KLA-manufactured myth.
In the all the Balkan wars of the last twenty years there was mass murder on all sides. Kosovo, serbs, croat, albanians they all killed each other because of race.
"While the alleged capitalistic robber barons in American know their priorities"
Always funny to me, that America is accused of caring for only money. Yet think of the headaches we would save ourselves if we dumped Israel, all the free oil. If we kept our mouths shut about terrorism and injustice. Yet the noble Europeans are the ones who make deals with Saddam and Iran, sell weapons to China, and kiss up to Castro.
It wasn't because of race - it was because radical Islam can't get along peacefully with other religions. That is the source of the problem.
In the all the Balkan wars of the last twenty years there was mass murder on all sides.
This article specifically says "Kosovo", not "all the Balkan wars" like you said, so let's not cloud the issue.
We were told by the KLA and their agents that there were over 100,000 Muslims killed in Kosovo, however it turned out that there weren't many more than 5,000. Granted - 5,000 is bad, but it ain't "genocide" by any means. The exact circumstances of many the deaths is not known either...some may have been KLA soldiers, and some may have been killed by the KLA themselves.
It is irresponsible of the author to further spread the lie of "genocide" in Kosovo - that's all I'm trying to point out. If he wants his article to be taken seriously he shouldn't start it off by misrepresenting what happened in Kosovo.
bump
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