Sunday, April 21, 2024

From Chamberlain to Biden, Lessons in Appeasement

Today we have pro-Hamas groups, just as then we had American Nazi Bunds standing up for Germany. Like today, the mass killing of Jews was not an issue with them. TD

The American Spectator | USA News and Politics  

. . ."Our present -day appeasers have exhibited all the delusory smugness that characterized early Chamberlain. Perhaps they have it in them to realize their inadequacy as leaders, as he did, and to devote whatever energy and talents they have left to helping defeat the world menace they have themselves nurtured through their woeful, blind self-absorption." . . . 

You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war.' - To Neville Chamberlain”; Winston Churchill.  Similarly today, we have the feckless Biden and the campus snowflakes.  TD

"To recognize appeasement, it’s best to learn from a master.

"One must not mistake Neville Chamberlain for a Nazi. He wasn’t. His antisemitism was that of T. S. Eliot — an offended sensibility, a mild disgust at there always being some untidy trouble attending them. He was a prim Englishman who dressed the part of the aristocracy, but who was more of an accountant than a man of leisure and noblesse oblige. He was secretive and manipulative when in power; he was easily threatened by brilliance and outspokenness, separately, and doubly threatened when both qualities were combined, to excess, in Winston Churchill.

"Though he is famous for appeasement, he did draw a line, unexpectedly, and held to it. In the fall of 1938, he fervently believed that he and Hitler had saved the peace of Europe at Munich, and that Hitler could be trusted when he said that the Sudeten territory the Allies had carved off of Czechoslovakia and given him was the last of Germany’s territorial ambitions in Europe.  Then when less then six months later, Hitler gobbled up the rest of the country, after a slight delay, Chamberlain declared himself as having been bamboozled, and he drew a red line in front of where Hitler was heading next — Poland. When Hitler invaded Poland that September, Chamberlain did not pull an Obama and just pretend he had never made a commitment. He sent Germany an ultimatum, and by September 3, Britain was at war.

"But even at war, Chamberlain and his French ally continued to behave as if he was still conducting a negotiation, and it affected the British war effort.

"Churchill had been brought into the government the moment the war started, and he was full of ideas on how to put the Nazis on their heels. Churchill oversaw the water aspect of the war, and the Germans began in his department, by striking at where Britain was most vulnerable – its sea lifeline. The Germans dropped mines all over the shipping lanes and their submarines started the terrible work. 

"Churchill sought to take away the momentum from the Nazis, and his thinking ran inventively, as was his wont. He put forth the plan of fluvial mines — launching hundreds of floating mines into the Rhine River to disrupt the river traffic that carried so much of Germany’s goods. It was a fine idea, but Chamberlain dithered for months. When his government okayed it, the French dithered further, worried that such an escalation would unnecessarily provoke Hitler into the kind of serious fighting that the Allies dreaded. " . . .


360 degrees of hostility: The Biden administration and Israel

  Caroline Glick

"Seemingly with each passing day, the Biden administration announces a new initiative aimed at undermining Israel’s ability to defend itself, either by limiting its military options, constraining its diplomatic maneuvering room, empowering its enemies or inducing domestic discord and social cleavages." . . .

"The Mothers of IDF Soldiers group led a demonstration last week of army mothers, reservists in the Israel Defense Forces, bereaved families and other concerned citizens outside the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. They demanded that President Joe Biden stop leveraging power to force Israel to resupply Hamas.

"The following day, hundreds of Israelis, including parents of soldiers, families of hostages and terror victims gathered outside Ashdod Port. For hours, they blocked trucks laden with supplies for Gaza from exiting the port. Activists have been blocking trucks from entering Gaza via the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana border crossings for more than two weeks.

"Speaking to the crowd in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Shifra Shahar, who runs a nonprofit organization that cares for the needs of soldiers, addressed her remarks to Israel’s leaders:

“ 'Government of Israel, defense minister, IDF chief of staff, get ahold of yourselves!

“ 'We had elections last year. I don’t recall voting for [U.S. Secretary of State Antony] Blinken! Blinken is sitting in the war cabinet and protecting the interests of my enemy. … We have sons in Gaza. We have sons fighting. The entry of the trucks endangers them, prolongs the war, increases the number of casualties and delays the return of the hostages!

“ 'They tell me, ‘There are constraints.’ He who is constrained doesn’t win the war.

“ 'They tell me, ‘The Americans are threatening not to provide us with ammunition.’

“ 'To this, I say, if we were besieging them, we wouldn’t need ammunition! The war would end. They’d be screaming for help, returning the hostages and the war would end!” . . .

. . ."[Caroline] Glick is the adjunct senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and directs the Israeli Security Project at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. She travels frequently throughout the world to brief policymakers on issues related to Israel’s strategic environment and other related topics. She lectures widely on strategic and political issues affecting global security, Israel and the Jewish people, US-Israel relations, Israel-Diaspora affairs and Israel’s changing strategic landscape." . . .

Marg bar, masks, and mania; Anti-war activists in Chicago learn to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” in Farsi.

"One can understand if the crowd in the Chicago video was hiding behind masks out of shame for their wishing death on others.  That they are hiding behind masks out of likely exaggerated fear for their own hides, one cannot.  It’s time to stop indulging self-centered advocates of terrorists chanting their own death wishes." 

John M. Grondelski - American Thinker   "Last weekend, as Iranian missiles descended on Israel, some Americans were standing with terrorism.  Social media featured a Chicago group happily being taught Persian phrases for “Death to Israel!” They even asking how to add “Death to America!”

 "Think about that: people in America wishing – and wanting to know how to wish – “death to America!”

"Most commentators on that video noted that paradox.  None noted two other things in the video.

"The first is “what does it mean?”  After the crowd enthusiastically chants those slogans, somebody finally asks, “what does it mean?”  One might have expected that question to come first, but at least it came out.  What’s telling is the leader’s response (at 0:40).  He says it has two meanings, “depending on who’s asking.”  Marg bar can mean “death to” or “down with.” 

"Depending on who’s asking,  I guess “down with” can include “six feet down under.”

"That word game is not new.  Apologists for leftist supporters of the “Iranian revolution” have played that verbal shell game for years, insisting that fanatical crowds chanting marg bar Amrika!  were merely proponents of a multipolar world.

"My second observation on the video are the masks.  Almost everybody in that video is masked.  I count at least nine." . . .

Agitator behind ‘Death to America’ chants in Chicago contributes to Iran state TV, Hezbollah-linked channel (msn.com)

President Trump Did Not Incite the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot

Donald W. Bohlken - American Thinker   "President Biden and others claim that President Trump incited the Capitol Riot, falsely described as an  “insurrection,” on January 6, 2021.  This belief explains Colorado’s failed attempt to remove Trump’s name from the ballot because he is an “insurrectionist,” as well as a national YouGov poll that found that 54% of Americans approved of the Colorado action.  It is now used as a justification for Biden to refuse to debate Trump.  This claim remains a serious problem — not only for Trump, but for obtaining an accurate history of what happened on January 6. 

"A rational evaluation of Trump’s words and actions, and other factors, demonstrates that this claim is nonsense.

"If Trump wanted a riot, why would he repeatedly request National Guard troops for January 6?  On January 3, 2021, President Trump asked Secretary of Defense Miller and General Milley to assign National Guard troops to counter violence on January 6.  Miller responded, “We’ve got a plan and we’ve got it covered.”

"Troops could be legally provided only if requested by law enforcement.  The Capitol Police declined the Defense Department’s offer of troops.

"The Secret Service, the Marshals Service, Park Police, and the Department of Homeland Security informed Defense “that they did not anticipate needing DoD assistance on January 6th.”

"The District of Columbia requested 340 troops, primarily for crowd control at Metro stations and intersections.

"On January 5, Trump asked Secretary Miller for 10000 troops “to do what’s required to protect the American people.' ” . . .

Thus, by January 5, President Trump had not only twice requested national guard troops, but had been assured that the Department of Defense had “a plan and we’ve got it covered.”