Victor Davis Hanson
"Certainly we do not need a disproportionate response to Herr Hitler that initiates a cycle of violence on both sides. We need to tamp down the rhetoric.”
 |
I have nothing to offer you, except blood, sweat, and arugula.
"Winston Churchill, well before he became Prime Minister in May 1940, was busy all through 1939 prompting the British government to prepare for war — and then, as First Lord of the Admiralty, helping to direct it once it broke out. But what if Churchill had been Barack Obama? What would Britain’s foremost opponent of appeasement have been like?
The Munich Agreement
"Obama-Churchill might have said something like the following in regards to the 1938 Munich Agreement.
“ 'We live in a complex world and at a challenging time. And none of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require British leadership. If we stay patient and determined, then we will, in fact, meet these challenges. The Munich Accord is a comprehensive government agreement. It is the first that actually constrains Nazi Germany from further aggression, and one whose provisions are transparent and enforceable. It is a sober and judicious way to preclude war and to bring Germany back into the family of nations and to become a credible regional power, while allowing the German people to express their legitimate aspirations.”
“ 'Obviously, the last twenty years of ostracizing Germany has not worked. So it’s time for some creative reset diplomacy, and a reengagement to get out of the rut of the last two decades. I don’t believe, as did former British officials, in snubbing supposed enemies, but rather in engaging and talking with them. Lots of you in the American newspaper business keep expecting us, like some American baseball team, to hit home runs. Well, we’re perfectly happy to hit singles and doubles like this agreement.' ”. . .
. . . “I’d also like to remind my fellow British subjects not to climb on their moral high horses. While Britain was forcibly colonizing the poor in Asia and Africa, and conducted genocide abroad, Germany in comparison had left a very small colonial imprint. It had no record of exploitation in the Americas and was not much of an overseas imperial nation. Its factories burn a lot less coal than do ours. So it might be wise for us to look inward a bit and calibrate the wages of our own imperialism. Germany does not rule India. It does not dictate to so-called dominions of subordinate states. It has no record of trafficking in and transporting slaves. There is no longer any such thing as a Germany monarchy.” . . .
|
No comments:
Post a Comment