The last word
To topic "The Last Word" , by Bulldog :.
Both Post 1 and 2 obviously took some time to write and much of the contents are true. nevertheless truth and history have something in common, they vary according to the time and place of the observer. I cannot tell you on this line all the reasons which led to WW2, and I certainly was no supporter of Hitler, but life is far too complex, to be able to just blame Nazi Germany for everything that went wrong. Of course I am also very thankful to those brave Americans who lost their lives or health fighting for my freedom. What disturbs me, is that many opportunities to avoid that war were deliberately side-stepped by British and American politicians.
Anybody who has taken the trouble to read Adolf Hitler's Biography, will get some idea of what went wrong. He certainly had no intention of invading Britain at the beginning of his political career, but with the declaration of the Jews congress (24. 03. 1933) together with Churchill and Roosevelt calling for war against Germany, as early as in 1934, a change was bound to come.
Although the US was in an isolationist, pacifist mood, and most Americans wanted nothing to do with the European or the Asian war, Roosevelt was also clever enough to realise, that by remaining neutral, both sides could remain commercial partners and with a weakening of all European countries it would be easy for the USA to grab a huge share of the world markets. Then as rightly said, along came Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941 , and in outrage Congress unanimously declared war on Japan , and Germany.
Had France and Britain kept their promise and assisted Czechoslovakia after the Munich Agreements, (which themselves were quite fair, had all sides been honest), Germany would not have dared to march in and form a protectorate. In those early years, the Czech army was, although small, one of the most powerful in Europe. With the support of France and England, that country could have stopped Hitler's forces entering. The support was not given, and the Nazis now thought they could do what they liked, without fear of England getting involved.
What they did not know was, that just the opposite to Neville Chamberlain, (the only honest leader to sign the Munich Agreement), Churchill had an obligation to a group known as focus, which had paid off his private debts. This group of mainly businessmen wanted war, both for political and financial reasons.
The war against Russia was for Churchill a blessing in disguise, they took the full brunt of the German army at its highest level, catching Stalin out before that man was ready to invade western Europe.
One statement by Churchill has more significance than many realised at the time. After the war was over he said "we have slaughtered the wrong pig!" He had come to realise that the communists were a far greater danger than the Nazis had ever been, and it is distressing to see, that in Europe, often disguised as social democrats, especially in countries such as the Czech Republic, this aggressive political movement is still very active.
Currently radical Muslims are also dangerous, but this is not a minority as Bulldog seems to think. The Koran demands from every Muslim, that he be ready to fight against those who attack other Muslims. As in the case of the Iraq war, whatever the intention might have been, from an Islamic religious point of view, there can be no peace until the invaders have been withdrawn. Of course, as with Churchill, it is quite possible to find people who can be bought off, but such leaders cannot in Islamic areas - as Afghanistan shows - stay in power without continuous outside help.
For a Muslim, it is not enough for Americans to say "We deposed Saddam Hussein." He will ask, what right have non-believers to kill Saddam Hussein and the 650.000 civilians who just happened to get in the way. To date, no evidence has even been produced to show Saddam supported Islamic terrorism.
To think that by killing people, the Middle East will learn be democratic, is just as naive as Chamberlain thinking he could stop Hitler by giving thought to Germany's legitimate claims, or the Israeli government expecting peace by forcing Palestinians to leave their homes. Politics are never black and white, but just various shades of grey.
We Europeans however have never been very bright in foreign polices. To allow atomic rockets, meant for America, to be blown up over Europe, is not my idea of helping our allies in the USA. We would do better by making sure the senders do not feel the need to use them!
