While Biden Slept: Appeasement and Accommodation

Townhall.com ^ | December 14, 2021 | Oliver North and David Goetsch

[Kaslin]

Speaking to the House of Commons in 1948, Winston Churchill, paraphrasing philosopher George Santayana, made a critical point: "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." In his book, "While England Slept," Churchill makes the case World War II could have been avoided had England's weak and feckless prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, not tried to appease Germany's power-hungry despot, Adolf Hitler.

We now have President Joe Biden taking Chamberlain's approach with three contemporary tyrants: Russia's Vladimir Putin, Communist China's Xi Jinping and Iran's "supreme leader," Ali Khamenei. As Chamberlain learned, appeasing tyrants never works. It's like trying to placate a hungry crocodile.

Biden and his advisors should immediately read Churchill's book. The Biden boys have failed to heed Churchill's warnings about weakness and appeasement. The American people are now at far greater risk than pre-WWII England.

The parallels between the lead-up to WWII and what is happening now with Russia, Communist China and Iran are staggering. In the 1930s, Hitler rearmed Germany and formed an "Axis" with fascist leaders in Italy and Japan; they all launched military campaigns to expand control over territory their respective governments considered important. The "international community," aka the "League of Nations," proved powerless to stop aggression on three continents.

Fast-forward to the present. Putin's Russia covets Ukraine and is preparing to seize that nation by military force if necessary. The People's Republic of China, led by the despot Xi, is bent on annexing Taiwan and eventual world domination. Khamenei, the theocrat ruling Iran, is determined to acquire nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them in order to destroy Israel and Tehran's "Great Satan" -- the USA.

These three dictators have as much regard for Biden as Hitler had for Chamberlain: none. Chamberlain naively believed diplomatic palaver would prevent war. Many in Washington thought trade restrictions on Tokyo would curb aggression in Asia. History proves both assumptions were wrong.

Putin, Xi and Khamenei scoff at diplomacy. Diplomacy is but a process all three use to buy time and make promises they won't keep. They are interested in outcomes, not processes.

All three dictators are the most powerful political authorities in their respective countries. Each of them is head of state, commander in chief of their nations' armed forces and each exercise total control over intelligence services. All three dominate the executive, legislative and judicial branches of their governments. Worse, all three despots are now cooperating in ways dangerous to our national security.

Russian and Chinese military units are engaged in joint training exercises, officer exchanges and collaboration on military and dual-use research and development. China is assisting Iran's nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missile programs. Russia is providing advanced radars and anti-aircraft/missile systems to protect Iran's nuclear sites.

All three of these tyrants view Biden as a stumbling, bumbling weakling backed by militarily-neutered NATO nations. Putin can cut off fuel supplies to NATO states and they will rush to make excuses for his aggression. Meanwhile, the PRC is building up all aspects of its military, outpacing the U.S. in ship building and military aircraft production, as Biden's woke Pentagon uses America's military to test arcane social justice theories.

Biden's disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan demonstrated to the world our president lacks resolve. By abandoning U.S. citizens and allies to a ragtag band of terrorists, he showed Putin, Xi and Khamenei they have nothing to fear from this administration. The absence of fear means we are unable to deter their aggressive ambitions. Let us pray Biden's appeasement and accommodation don't lead to war.

[Vaquero]

While he slept????

He’s always asleep

[Kaslin]

You said it.

[Kaslin]

He sleeps even when he is “awake”

[Starboard]

“The absence of fear means we are unable to deter their aggressive ambitions.”

*************

Weakness invites aggression. Always has, always will.

The country is about to re-learn that lesson.

[T-Bird45]

The writers used an awful lot of words yet couldn't manage to express an answer to the 2 critical questions posed in Kurt Schlichter's column in Townhall.com yesterday. Specifically:

What is the American interest served by intervening in Ukraine against Russian aggression?

And how many dead and maimed Americans are you willing to expend in order to achieve that objective?

Feel free to substitute "Taiwan" or "Iran" for "Ukraine" when considering the questions. IMO, the case for an American interest in Taiwan is significantly different due to a treaty and is probably more easily understood. As to Iran, there has been plenty of justification since the 1970s to have turned large portions of it into glass parking lots yet US "leadership" couldn't get it done. Reagan came the closest but Biden certainly doesn't stand alone in regards to being feckless about Iran.

[aquila48]

“All three of these tyrants view Biden as a stumbling, bumbling weakling backed by militarily-neutered NATO nations”

And they’re especially excited that we have a populace composed mostly of useful idiots who elect incompetent losers like Sock Puppet.

[Lurker]

“What is the American interest served by intervening in Ukraine against Russian aggression?”

Megabucks for defense contractors and that’s about it.

Taiwan is a different story.

L

[T-Bird45]

Agreed on both of your points, especially about the defense contractors. We left enough stuff behind in Afghanistan that could have gone to Ukraine to deter Putin. Xi is threatening Taiwan because he believes the US is weak in both leadership and military preparedness. Tough to say he’s wrong on either aspect.

[Mariner]

Ollie North doing his best to stir passions for war.

Now.

Appeasement of Russia? Because we won’t engage existential war over Ukraine?

These effers are crazy!

[BroJoeK]

"What is the American interest served by intervening in Ukraine against Russian aggression?”
Megabucks for defense contractors and that’s about it.
Taiwan is a different story."

In both Taiwan and Ukraine the bigger issue is the same -- will we reward, appease or ignore international aggressions?
If so, then we can well expect more of them.

But in both cases, the first lines of defense should include their own neighbors -- Ukraine's European neighbors, Taiwan's Asain neighbors, with American help for the neighbors as needed.
The principle here is: Taiwanese & Ukrainians (unlike, for example, Afghans) must be willing to fight for their own countries, their neighbors must be willing to help them, and then, as a LAST resort, the US will also pitch in.
We don't fight alone.

[Lurker]

“In both Taiwan and Ukraine the bigger issue is the same — will we reward, appease or ignore international aggressions?”

There are national security issues with Taiwan, like 90% of the world’s advanced computer chips being made there. Setting that aside we aren’t the policemen of the world.

“International aggression” has been going on for thousands of years. It’s not our job to stop it and it’s a fools errand to even try. Only when there is a clear an PD articulable threat to American national security should we get involved.

There is no such threat regarding Ukraine. They’ve been fighting each other for 500 years there. And they’ll be fighting for another 500 years whether we get involved or not.

L

[BroJoeK]

"There is no such threat regarding Ukraine.
They’ve been fighting each other for 500 years there.
And they’ll be fighting for another 500 years whether we get involved or not."

Sure, I "get" that -- Ukraine is the Rhineland or Austria of our age -- we can let them go, no problem, no concern of ours... why, what is even Czechoslovakia to us?
Now Poland, there's a country we should defend, so let's make our stand over Poland, right?

Did you notice a flaw in that logic?

[Lurker]

We have a defense agreement with Poland. No such agreement with Ukraine exists.

See the flaw in your logic?

L

[BroJoeK]

"See the flaw in your logic?"

Not my logic -- it was our Greatest Generation who learned the very very high costs of appeasing aggressors.
They were determined it not happen again.

But I'll grant you that even Winston Churchill, with perfect 20-20 hindsight, would likely not have gone to war over, for example, Austria.
But he would have threatened & done every other thing possible.

Does that sound logical to you?

[Lurker]

The simple fact of the matter is that we don’t have a dog in the Russia-Ukraine fight. They’re both utterly corrupt oligarchies. There’s no national security threat there and there are no “good guys”.

Nothing in Ukraine is worth a single drop of American blood or a plugged nickel of American treasure.

Nothing.

Let them fight until the cows come home and stay out of it.

L

[BroJoeK]

"Nothing in Ukraine is worth a single drop of American blood or a plugged nickel of American treasure.
Nothing."

Sure, and the same was true in the 1930s in, say, the Rhineland, Austria, Poland, Ethiopia, Manchuria, Vietnam...
But the deal was: oppose them then or fight them later, on a much bigger scale.

Just saying... always a choice.

[Lurker]

It ain’t 1930 and Putin ain’t Adolph.

L

[BroJoeK]

Lurker: "It ain’t 1930 and Putin ain’t Adolph."

Sure, Putin might well be closer to Stalin than Hitler, and Stalin was more opportunist than methodical aggressor.
In, say, 1939, Stalin's basic idea was: let the Germans fight the French (as in WWI), each side destroys the other, then we Soviets will walk into Berlin unopposed.
And when opportunities for aggression presented themselves, Stalin was very quick to take advantage -- i.e., Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finnland, Korea.
So arguably, unlike Hitler, Stalin was not obsessed with "lebensraum" or with winning back lost Soviet territory.

But Putin is...
And so is Xi...
And Iran's mullah's are just obsessed, period.

Well then... it turns out that yet again we have a tri-party Axis of aggressors driven by territorial, imperial & religious obsessions analogous to those in the 1930s.
Of course, as they say, history never exactly repeats itself, but it does sometimes rhyme.

So what would rhyme with "appeasement leads to bigger war"?

[Lurker]

“So what would rhyme with “appeasement leads to bigger war”?”

If you want to fight for Ukraine feel free to buy yourself a rifle and a plane ticket. I won’t stop you. In fact I encourage it. I’m sure they’ll welcome you with open arms.

If you’re not willing to put your own ass on the line for them then you damned sure shouldn’t be so cavalier about putting others asses on the line.

I’d also invite you to look at a map. Then look up the word “logistics”.

L