Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Bush Plays the Hitler Card (by Pat Buchanan - sickening!)
Townhall.com ^ | May 20, 2008 | Patrick J. Buchanan

Posted on 05/20/2008 12:59:30 PM PDT by EveningStar

"A little learning is a dangerous thing," wrote Alexander Pope.

Daily, our 43rd president testifies to Pope's point.

Addressing the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth, Bush said those who say we should negotiate with Iran or Hamas are like the fools who said we should negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; Government; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 60thanniversary; antisemitism; appeasement; coughlinjunior; mullahpat; patbuchanan
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 141-148 next last
To: EveningStar

I think this is a gross distortion of the truth. I don’t think for a minute Germany would NOT have invaded Poland had they given up Danzig. Bush’s subordinates can negotiate all they want.


61 posted on 05/20/2008 2:14:05 PM PDT by nikos1121 (Thank you, Jimmy Carter for all you've done to make the world a safer place.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar
Pat you have gone senile. Past time you ride off into the sun set. You have become the post child for the Left, a caricature Conservative.
62 posted on 05/20/2008 2:15:25 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Evidently the rock hit Pat right on his thick Irish noggin’.


63 posted on 05/20/2008 2:15:42 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (El Nino is climate, La Nina is weather.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Pat lost it long ago, he’s a petty, angry, jealous man. For whatever brilliance he may have had, what good is it if he’s lost credibility? Very sad to have watched his decline. He never quite got over the Iowa straw poll years ago. It’s been all downhill for him ever since. I flatly refuse to read anything he writes any more, and I DO have all his old books.


64 posted on 05/20/2008 2:16:56 PM PDT by EDINVA (Proud American for 23,062 days.... and counting!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cyclone Conservative

IATZ


65 posted on 05/20/2008 2:17:10 PM PDT by indcons
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Enchante
I believe you missed the entire thrust of the article because you disagree with what might have potentially been the outcome of negotiations with Poland about Danzig. This is not what the article is about. The real issue is whether it makes sense to talk with, or negotiate with, our enemies. Some seem to think the very idea of this is appeasement. I and Buchanan, along with Reagan, Nixon, Kennedy and many others disagree. The appeasement comes from what you agree to, or don't agree to, not from the mere act of talking.

Chamberlain was a fool not for talking with Hitler but because he, possibly because of his naivete, made foolish agreements. I, and many others, fear what someone like Obama might do not because of who they might talk with but because of what foolish agreements they might make. I feel almost the same way about McCain who has shown a certain naivite with his stands on GITMO, interrogation techniques, rights of enemy combatants and even global warming.

I don't have any doubt that President Bush was making a political point in his speech about negotiating with terrorists and I don't have any problem with his political statement. However, history has shown, as Buchanan was pointing out, that negotiating with your enemy is only foolish when you are ignorant and/or naive and make agreements that benefit your enemy instead of your own Country. Chamberlain did this, Reagan did not. Bush expended a lot of time and energy negotiating with Hussein, it didn't work out. He also has spent a lot of time and energy on diplomatic efforts with Iran and "palistinian" leaders. They haven't worked out. It doesn't change the fact that talking and negotiating with our enemies is often worthwhile as long as foolish agreements are not entered into.

66 posted on 05/20/2008 2:19:09 PM PDT by Prokopton
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Cyclone Conservative
Besides being factually inaccurate, makes assumptions without any sort of supporting data and is based wholly on Mr Buchannan’s mistake belief that his opinion is fact, other then that I guess there is nothing wrong with the article.

Pat's position here is historically ignorant, emotionally bigoted and factually wrong on all counts. Is that good enough or do you need more educating?

67 posted on 05/20/2008 2:19:13 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

yeah, I’m not impressed with the young women that represent Townhall on O’Reilly all the time, either.

But Buchannan is an idiot and every bit as vindictive as McCain.

Bush isn’t supposed to mention that the Democrats all favor appeasement of terrorists, while he is on foreign soil, but it was ok for the Democrats to go over to the Middle East and criticize Pres. Bush. Not to mention that just a few days before President Bush traveled to Israel, Obama fire one of his top foreign policy advisors when it became known that he had been meeting with leaders of Hamas, regularly.


68 posted on 05/20/2008 2:19:41 PM PDT by Eva (CHANGE- the post modern euphemism for Marxist revolution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton
It would help if people actually read what Bush said instead of rationalizing Pat's stupidity in the mistake belief that because a guy like Pat claims he is “conservative” Conservative must defend every stupid bit of drivel he puts out.
69 posted on 05/20/2008 2:21:03 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: puroresu
How can someone who can write so many brilliant columns on domestic matters such as cultural issues and sovereignty, write such imbecilic drivel on foreign policy issues?

Where he is 'right' on domestic issues, it is often for the wrong reasons. If you go through his history of articles, you'll see that his many of his domestic stances are grounded in a belief that America is not a force for good, but of evil and his domestic approach is to protect us from ourselves and/or some sort of Israel control (he blames Israel for a lot of our problems). He has often written (eg Day of Reckoning & The Great Betrayal) about the line of the masses and the PTBs as if there were some secret controllers (ie, NWO). Stuff like this isn't new for Pat. He defended Iwan Demjanjuk and other former Nazis against prosecution for war crimes.

70 posted on 05/20/2008 2:24:41 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: The_Republican
No one confronts the facts of what Pat is saying.

That the whole problem. People simply are ignorning the fact Pat HAS no facts to back up this drivel because they happen to validat what they personally feel based on their fandom for Pat and the mindless hate for Bush. I might take you seriously if you actually applied you stated standard to defense of Pat. The exact thing you claim the Bushies are doing is what Pat's defenders are doing. Ignoring all facts to rational an exucse for Pat's absurd arguements. The argument here is based on nothing more then Pat's BDS. Bush said it therefore it is bad and wrong. His argument here is based on nonsense seeking a rationaliztion to justify a reason to be mad at Bush. It completely misses the whole point Bush made in his speech to cling so Pat can cling to his usual mindless BDS.

71 posted on 05/20/2008 2:26:27 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton; Cyclone Conservative; The_Republican

How about you Patbots try actually reading the Bush speech?
Pretty obvious all you know about it is what idiots like Pat told you. Put your BDS on hold one time and actually learn what your are commenting on

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080515-1.html

2:55 P.M. (Local) THE PRESIDENT: President Peres and Mr. Prime Minister, Madam Speaker, thank very much for hosting this special session. President Beinish, Leader of the Opposition Netanyahu, Ministers, members of the Knesset, distinguished guests: Shalom. Laura and I are thrilled to be back in Israel. We have been deeply moved by the celebrations of the past two days. And this afternoon, I am honored to stand before one of the world’s great democratic assemblies and convey the wishes of the American people with these words: Yom Ha’atzmaut Sameach. (Applause.)

President George W. Bush receives a standing ovation by members of the Knesset Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Jerusalem. Acknowledging the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence, the President told the Israeli parliament, “Earlier today, I visited Masada, an inspiring monument to courage and sacrifice. At this historic site, Israeli soldiers swear an oath: “Masada shall never fall again.” Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will be at your side.” White House photo by Shealah Craighead It is a rare privilege for the American President to speak to the Knesset. (Laughter.) Although the Prime Minister told me there is something even rarer — to have just one person in this chamber speaking at a time. (Laughter.) My only regret is that one of Israel’s greatest leaders is not here to share this moment. He is a warrior for the ages, a man of peace, a friend. The prayers of the American people are with Ariel Sharon. (Applause.)

We gather to mark a momentous occasion. Sixty years ago in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel’s independence, founded on the “natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate.” What followed was more than the establishment of a new country. It was the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David — a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael.

Eleven minutes later, on the orders of President Harry Truman, the United States was proud to be the first nation to recognize Israel’s independence. And on this landmark anniversary, America is proud to be Israel’s closest ally and best friend in the world.

The alliance between our governments is unbreakable, yet the source of our friendship runs deeper than any treaty. It is grounded in the shared spirit of our people, the bonds of the Book, the ties of the soul. When William Bradford stepped off the Mayflower in 1620, he quoted the words of Jeremiah: “Come let us declare in Zion the word of God.” The founders of my country saw a new promised land and bestowed upon their towns names like Bethlehem and New Canaan. And in time, many Americans became passionate advocates for a Jewish state.

Centuries of suffering and sacrifice would pass before the dream was fulfilled. The Jewish people endured the agony of the pogroms, the tragedy of the Great War, and the horror of the Holocaust — what Elie Wiesel called “the kingdom of the night.” Soulless men took away lives and broke apart families. Yet they could not take away the spirit of the Jewish people, and they could not break the promise of God. (Applause.) When news of Israel’s freedom finally arrived, Golda Meir, a fearless woman raised in Wisconsin, could summon only tears. She later said: “For two thousand years we have waited for our deliverance. Now that it is here it is so great and wonderful that it surpasses human words.”

President George W. Bush stands with Dalia Itzik, Speaker of the Knesset, and Israel’s President Shimon Peres on the floor of the Knesset Thursday, May 15, 2008, in Jerusalem. During his remarks to the members of the Israel parliament, President Bush said, “We gather to mark a momentous occasion. Sixty years ago in Tel Aviv, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel’s independence, founded on the “natural right of the Jewish people to be masters of their own fate.” What followed was more than the establishment of a new country. It was the redemption of an ancient promise given to Abraham and Moses and David — a homeland for the chosen people Eretz Yisrael.” White House photo by Shealah Craighead The joy of independence was tempered by the outbreak of battle, a struggle that has continued for six decades. Yet in spite of the violence, in defiance of the threats, Israel has built a thriving democracy in the heart of the Holy Land. You have welcomed immigrants from the four corners of the Earth. You have forged a free and modern society based on the love of liberty, a passion for justice, and a respect for human dignity. You have worked tirelessly for peace. You have fought valiantly for freedom.

My country’s admiration for Israel does not end there. When Americans look at Israel, we see a pioneer spirit that worked an agricultural miracle and now leads a high-tech revolution. We see world-class universities and a global leader in business and innovation and the arts. We see a resource more valuable than oil or gold: the talent and determination of a free people who refuse to let any obstacle stand in the way of their destiny.

I have been fortunate to see the character of Israel up close. I have touched the Western Wall, seen the sun reflected in the Sea of Galilee, I have prayed at Yad Vashem. And earlier today, I visited Masada, an inspiring monument to courage and sacrifice. At this historic site, Israeli soldiers swear an oath: “Masada shall never fall again.” Citizens of Israel: Masada shall never fall again, and America will be at your side.

This anniversary is a time to reflect on the past. It’s also an opportunity to look to the future. As we go forward, our alliance will be guided by clear principles — shared convictions rooted in moral clarity and unswayed by popularity polls or the shifting opinions of international elites.

We believe in the matchless value of every man, woman, and child. So we insist that the people of Israel have the right to a decent, normal, and peaceful life, just like the citizens of every other nation. (Applause.)

We believe that democracy is the only way to ensure human rights. So we consider it a source of shame that the United Nations routinely passes more human rights resolutions against the freest democracy in the Middle East than any other nation in the world. (Applause.)

We believe that religious liberty is fundamental to a civilized society. So we condemn anti-Semitism in all forms — whether by those who openly question Israel’s right to exist, or by others who quietly excuse them.

We believe that free people should strive and sacrifice for peace. So we applaud the courageous choices Israeli’s leaders have made. We also believe that nations have a right to defend themselves and that no nation should ever be forced to negotiate with killers pledged to its destruction. (Applause.)

We believe that targeting innocent lives to achieve political objectives is always and everywhere wrong. So we stand together against terror and extremism, and we will never let down our guard or lose our resolve. (Applause.)

The fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time. It is more than a clash of arms. It is a clash of visions, a great ideological struggle. On the one side are those who defend the ideals of justice and dignity with the power of reason and truth. On the other side are those who pursue a narrow vision of cruelty and control by committing murder, inciting fear, and spreading lies.

This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is an ancient battle between good and evil. The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis.

And that is why the founding charter of Hamas calls for the “elimination” of Israel. And that is why the followers of Hezbollah chant “Death to Israel, Death to America!” That is why Osama bin Laden teaches that “the killing of Jews and Americans is one of the biggest duties.” And that is why the President of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It’s natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.

Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. (Applause.)

Some people suggest if the United States would just break ties with Israel, all our problems in the Middle East would go away. This is a tired argument that buys into the propaganda of the enemies of peace, and America utterly rejects it. Israel’s population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because the United States of America stands with you. (Applause.)

America stands with you in breaking up terrorist networks and denying the extremists sanctuary. America stands with you in firmly opposing Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. Permitting the world’s leading sponsor of terror to possess the world’s deadliest weapons would be an unforgivable betrayal for future generations. For the sake of peace, the world must not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. (Applause.)

Ultimately, to prevail in this struggle, we must offer an alternative to the ideology of the extremists by extending our vision of justice and tolerance and freedom and hope. These values are the self-evident right of all people, of all religions, in all the world because they are a gift from the Almighty God. Securing these rights is also the surest way to secure peace. Leaders who are accountable to their people will not pursue endless confrontation and bloodshed. Young people with a place in their society and a voice in their future are less likely to search for meaning in radicalism. Societies where citizens can express their conscience and worship their God will not export violence, they will be partners in peace.

The fundamental insight, that freedom yields peace, is the great lesson of the 20th century. Now our task is to apply it to the 21st. Nowhere is this work more urgent than here in the Middle East. We must stand with the reformers working to break the old patterns of tyranny and despair. We must give voice to millions of ordinary people who dream of a better life in a free society. We must confront the moral relativism that views all forms of government as equally acceptable and thereby consigns whole societies to slavery. Above all, we must have faith in our values and ourselves and confidently pursue the expansion of liberty as the path to a peaceful future.

That future will be a dramatic departure from the Middle East of today. So as we mark 60 years from Israel’s founding, let us try to envision the region 60 years from now. This vision is not going to arrive easily or overnight; it will encounter violent resistance. But if we and future Presidents and future Knessets maintain our resolve and have faith in our ideals, here is the Middle East that we can see:

Israel will be celebrating the 120th anniversary as one of the world’s great democracies, a secure and flourishing homeland for the Jewish people. The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved — a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror. From Cairo to Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy and tourism and trade. Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, with today’s oppression a distant memory and where people are free to speak their minds and develop their God-given talents. Al Qaeda and Hezbollah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists’ vision and the injustice of their cause.

Overall, the Middle East will be characterized by a new period of tolerance and integration. And this doesn’t mean that Israel and its neighbors will be best of friends. But when leaders across the region answer to their people, they will focus their energies on schools and jobs, not on rocket attacks and suicide bombings. With this change, Israel will open a new hopeful chapter in which its people can live a normal life, and the dream of Herzl and the founders of 1948 can be fully and finally realized.

This is a bold vision, and some will say it can never be achieved. But think about what we have witnessed in our own time. When Europe was destroying itself through total war and genocide, it was difficult to envision a continent that six decades later would be free and at peace. When Japanese pilots were flying suicide missions into American battleships, it seemed impossible that six decades later Japan would be a democracy, a lynchpin of security in Asia, and one of America’s closest friends. And when waves of refugees arrived here in the desert with nothing, surrounded by hostile armies, it was almost unimaginable that Israel would grow into one of the freest and most successful nations on the earth.

Yet each one of these transformations took place. And a future of transformation is possible in the Middle East, so long as a new generation of leaders has the courage to defeat the enemies of freedom, to make the hard choices necessary for peace, and stand firm on the solid rock of universal values.

Sixty years ago, on the eve of Israel’s independence, the last British soldiers departing Jerusalem stopped at a building in the Jewish quarter of the Old City. An officer knocked on the door and met a senior rabbi. The officer presented him with a short iron bar — the key to the Zion Gate — and said it was the first time in 18 centuries that a key to the gates of Jerusalem had belonged to a Jew. His hands trembling, the rabbi offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God, “Who had granted us life and permitted us to reach this day.” Then he turned to the officer, and uttered the words Jews had awaited for so long: “I accept this key in the name of my people.”

Over the past six decades, the Jewish people have established a state that would make that humble rabbi proud. You have raised a modern society in the Promised Land, a light unto the nations that preserves the legacy of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And you have built a mighty democracy that will endure forever and can always count on the United States of America to be at your side. God bless. (Applause.)


72 posted on 05/20/2008 2:29:49 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: Prokopton
No, I think you (and definitely Buchanan who seems to be in serious need of a history lesson) are missing the historical lessons of the run up to WWII. Appeasement gives the aggressor the idea that he will be able to push further and further. Hitler had no qualms about attacking Poland, but given the craven behaviour of the Western powers since 1935 there are good reasons to believe that he expected the British and the French to back down once again.

Thus, the appeasement policy failed in two ways. It gave away territories and whole countries to an aggressor, and then failed to make him understand that they really, really were serious this time.

The Soviets knew that Reagan meant what he said, and therefore he (Reagan) was negotiating both form a known and a strong position.

73 posted on 05/20/2008 2:30:41 PM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Pat is stiill upset that Der Fuhrer is kaput..


74 posted on 05/20/2008 2:32:52 PM PDT by sheik yerbouty ( Make America and the world a jihad free zone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: The_Republican
"A little learning is a dangerous thing," wrote Alexander Pope.

Daily, our 43rd president testifies to Pope's point.

Maybe Pat, but not nearly as dangerous as the complete lack of any learning you, and the rest of the Isolationist choir, demonstrate every time you pen a column. Simply denying all historical fact because it does not validate your current political dogmas (and mindless hate for the Bushies) Pat, is the act of a complete moron.

75 posted on 05/20/2008 2:33:00 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (http://www.iraqvetsforcongress.com ---- Get involved, make a difference.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar

Talk about rewriting history, this fool now has a national audience to spew his hate!


76 posted on 05/20/2008 2:33:25 PM PDT by rocksblues (Folks we are in trouble, "Mark Levin" 03/26/08)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cyclone Conservative
I agree. Buchanan is correct again, and his comparisons are right on the mark, in regards to negotiating with far more dangerous leaders currently and in the past.

Bottom line here is some of these nuts just hate Buchanan.

77 posted on 05/20/2008 2:34:13 PM PDT by dragnet2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: MNJohnnie
I think this goes way beyond Bush. Pat started bashing the right way back under the Reagan era when he started talking about those who were working (in his words) for Israel's interest. Go back to The Great Betrayal, he thinks there is a group in the US that are giving up our interest for Israel. His hatred of Israel seems to be very deep seeded. He has actually defended former Nazi death camp workers against prosecution for war crimes.

If you want a real shocker, go look up an old article he wrote back in the 70s called “A lesson in tyranny too soon forgotten” (or something like that). Pat throws in one or two comments about Hitler being racist, then spends the rest of the article fawning over him and how he was ‘misunderstood’.

78 posted on 05/20/2008 2:35:05 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: EveningStar
The cost of the war that came of a refusal to negotiate Danzig was millions of Polish dead, the Katyn massacre, Treblinka, Sobibor, Auschwitz, the annihilation of the Home Army in the Warsaw uprising of 1944, and 50 years of Nazi and Stalinist occupation, barbarism and terror.

Who knew...the Poles were the cause of World War II. Talk about making a hash of history.

79 posted on 05/20/2008 2:35:29 PM PDT by hinckley buzzard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MNJohnnie
Found the article I was referencing.

"A lesson in tyranny too soon forgotten", Patrick Buchanan, Chicago Tribune, August 25, 1977 Section 3 page 3 "If Hitler had died in 1937 on the fourth anniversary of his coming to power... he would undoubtedly have gone down as one of the greatest figures of German history. Throughout Europe he had millions of admirers. Gertrude Stein (who found Roosevelt boring) thought Hitler should get the Nobel Peace Prize. In magazine and newspaper articles George Bernard Shaw defended Hitler and other dictators." So writes John Toland in his brilliant biography of Hitler. From his masterful study in tyranny, a generation without memory of World War II can learn the lessons the West has already forgotten. Those of us in childhood during the war years were introduced to Hitler only as caricature. Either he was a ranting, raving, carpet-chewing Chaplinesque buffoon -- or the anti-Christ, Satan Incarnate, a devil without human attribute who had hypnotized the German people. Such ignorance is folly. Though Hitler was indeed racist and anti-Semitic to the core, a man who without compunction could commit murder and genocide, he was also an individual of great courage, a soldier's soldier in the Great War, a political organizer of the first rank, a leader steeped in the history of Europe, who possessed oratorical powers that could awe even those who despised him. But Hitler's success was not based on his extraordinary gifts alone. His genius was an intuitive sense of the mushiness, the character flaws, the weakness masquerading as morality that was in the hearts of the statesmen who stood in his path.

Men like Chamberlain and Daladier needed a moral justification for their acts of weakness and betrayal. They needed to believe they were making minor concessions, doing the right thing, to preserve the larger good -- the peace of Europe. Hitler generously provided those justifications. Had he preached at Munich in 1933 of his New Order, a thousand-year-old Reich where the Jew would be exterminated, the 'lesser' peoples enslaved, and the German would rule, East and West Europe might have united to destroy him.

Instead he cloaked each of his territorial seizures in the rhetoric of rationality and righteousness. When his battalions marched into the Rhineland, even the liberal British Lord Lothian declared, 'The Germans, after all, are only going into their own back garden.' To those who protested the Anschluss, Hitler could reply that a plebiscite was subsequently conducted, which showed 99 per cent of the German and Austrian people approving annexation.

Even at Munich, Hitler could appeal to the principle of self-determination. After all, why should Britain and German go to war to deny several million Sudeten Germans the right to link politically with their ethnic brothers in Berlin rather than their Czech rulers in Prague? Today, we condemn Chamberlain as the arch appeaser. But today we listen attentively as the Sinologists who follow John K. Fairbank and A. Doak Barnet argue for turning over 17 million people on Taiwan to the control of their ethnic brothers who rule the mainland -- to remove the principal irritant in Washington-Peking relations. Where is the moral distinction?

Even in the Polish crisis which led to World War II, Hitler's case was not without cogency. After all, Danzig was a German city, separated, like East Prussia, from Greater Germany by an artificially created Polish corridor. Hitler's case for eliminating this artificial division of his country was at least as persuasive as Panama's case for eliminating the artificial division of its territory by the Canal Zone.

Almost alone among European statesmen, Churchill saw that -- under the guise of restoring Germany to her rightful place among nations -- Hitler was marching along the road toward a New Order where Western civilization would not survive.

The vision lacking in the statesmen of '37 appears lacking as well in the men of '77. Communists, pro-Communists, Western-haters appeal to Western commitments to anti-colonialism, nonintervention, majority rule, and strategic parity. But these arguments are the indentured servants of a global enterprise, which has as its objective the collapse of the West. Unlike Churchill, we cannot see the linkage between Southeast Asia and Panama, between Angola and Taiwan, between South Korea and South Africa.

80 posted on 05/20/2008 2:37:38 PM PDT by mnehring
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 141-148 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson