Dateline: Pre-war Britain 1936
“Two things, I confess, have
staggered me, after a long Parliamentary experience, in these Debates.
The first has been the dangers that have so swiftly come upon us in a
few years, and have been transforming our position and the whole outlook
of the world. Secondly, I have been staggered by the failure of the
House of Commons to react effectively against these dangers. That, I am
bound to say, I never expected. I would never have believed that we
should have been allowed to go on getting into this plight, month by
month and year by year, and that even the Government’s own confessions
of error would have produced no concentration of Parliamentary opinion
and force capable of lifting our efforts to the level of emergency.”[i]
If one can imagine standing on a rooftop on the
outskirts of London after the Battle of Britain during the summer and
fall of 1940, it may be possible to envision the devastation left by
German Luftwaffe. It would take a much closer view to see the real
devastation left in the lives of thousands of Britons. How did the
politicians who failed to act in 1935, 36, 37, 38, and 39 console
themselves when they looked at the carnage they could have, perhaps,
prevented? Let us trust that it was more than a ‘shift the blame game.’
If politicians in the United States cannot learn from Mr. Churchill’s
remarks in 1935, perhaps they can find the key to self-consolation used
by latter British Parliamentarians who heeded not his warnings then; for
the day, now, when Iran unleashes its nuclear wrath on civilian Israel
or perhaps, the United States.
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| Air Observer over London |
A distasteful medicine, no doubt; but Americans must
not be too quick to prescribe such a tonic to their Congressmen if they
are not ready to indulge in a spoonful of the nasty elixir themselves.
Every person who does not raise the alarm nor prevail upon their elected
representatives to do so must share in the blame of what shall come. It
is no longer a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ the madman of Iran will get
his destructive tool completed and will seek with the greatest of evil
desires to annihilate Israel and, in turn, the Great Satan of America.
When the attack comes, Americans will rise up and proclaim, “Something
must be done!” I would say, ‘
Sit down; you have already done less than enough.’
I applaud with great enthusiasm those who have raised
the banner of alarm and have declared the urgency of these days. I
overwhelmingly support our military men and women.
Look back to the world in 1936 when Winston Churchill understood the
nature of the time. Here is a brief timeline provided by Holocaust
Encyclopedia[ii]:
September 18, 1931
Japan invades Manchuria.
October 2, 1935–May 1936
Fascist Italy invades, conquers, and annexes Ethiopia.
October 25–November 1, 1936
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation on October 25; on November 1, the Rome-Berlin Axis is announced.
November 25, 1936
Nazi Germany and Imperial
Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact, directed against the Soviet Union
and the international Communist movement.
Only two ‘shooting wars’ had erupted briefly; one in Manchuria the
other in Ethiopia. Fast forward to 2012 and compare it to the timeline
NPR provides of the “Arab Spring”[iii]
December 2010 January 2011
Tunisian President toppled after violent demonstrations.
Dissent begins in Egypt (January 2011)
February 2011
Mass protests in Yemen – President promised to step down at the end of his term
Mubarak steps down as Egyptian President
Violence in Bahrain quelled by military intervention from Saudi Arabia
Libya ignites in violence
March 2011
Libya rebels in control –
Syrians rise up against violent Assad regime – Assad begins program of mass murder against civilian dissidents and innocents
NATO and US authorize airstrikes in Libya in attempt to force Gadhafi out
June 2011
Yemeni President Saleh is badly injured in explosion at presidential compound – leaves the country
August 2011
Mubarak on trial
Rebels in Libya enter Tripoli
October 2011
Gadhafi killed
Tunisian elections – Islamic party Ennahda wins
November 2011
Bahrain report shows government tortured dissidents
Muslim Brotherhood – extreme Islamic party takes lead in Egyptian elections
December 2011
5000 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.
June 2012
Mohamed Morsy, of the Egyptian Brotherhood declared the next president of Egypt after receiving 51% of the vote.[iv]
21,435 Syrians believed murdered by Assad regime since ‘Spring’ began.[v]
Currently, Russia is providing tanks and military helicopters to
Assad in Syria for “self-defense” according to Russian foreign minister
Sergey Lavrov.[vi]
Henry Kissinger (Secretary of State under Richard Nixon) described the
Syrian civil war as an unfortunate event, a human catastrophe. Russia
and Iran have ensconced themselves in the Syrian Civil War backing Assad
and leveraging Hamas and the Palestinians to increase their strangle
hold on the region, particularly isolating Israel.
Thomas Donnelly writes,
“Obama has insisted that the ‘tide of war’ in
the Middle East is ‘receding.’ It’s not just that American troops have
been withdrawn from Iraq, are being more rapidly withdrawn from
Afghanistan, or were not employed on the ground in Libya. It’s the
President’s belief that they need not – should not – be used again. This is an unrealistic belief.”[vii](Emphasis added)
June 23, 2012 Syrian forces shot down a Turkish jet that was in
international air space and some NATO countries are meeting at the
request of Turkey to prepare a response to the unprovoked attack.
Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi declared the attack to be
“unacceptable” and announced that Italy would be part of the NATO
meeting with Turkey.[viii]
Twenty-three Hamas rockets were fired into Israel just yesterday
(June 23, 2012) bringing the total since Monday to 150 not including the
armed incursions and the fire fights between IDF and Hamas forces.
The Russian proffered ‘talks’ for nuclear weapon pull-back with Iran
have had no success and Tehran remains recalcitrant about their desire
to ‘wipe Israel off the map’ as well as attack and destroy ‘the big
Satan’ the United States.
What will it take? A Blitzkrieg across Poland and the opening of
camps like Chelmno (Kulmhof) and Auschwitz? A public commitment to “the
Final Solution”? (No, wait, we have that already!) Another 9/11?
“When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.“[ix]
Oh, but to find in our leaders both in Washington, the states and in each home and family
good leaders.
There are some. They must associate or they will, as Edmund Burke
warns, ‘fall one by one.’ Who will hear Mr. Churchill’s admonition? Who
will answer the call? My prayer is that when the events of history
record this time, I will be known to have taken my stand together with
other good citizens and drawn that line against which evil must not be
allowed to cross.
[Dr. Ross L. Riggs Global Security Consulting a subsidiary of Security Consulting Investigations, LLC www.homelandsecuritynet.com/HSN/ www.globalsecurityconsulting.us]
[i]
Churchill, Winston remarks to the House of Commons, November 1936 as
recorded by William Kristol and Jamie Fly in “No Iranian Nukes” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012
[ii] http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007306
[iii] http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144489844/timeline-the-major-events-of-the-arab-spring
[iv] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines
[v] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_Civil_War_%282011%E2%80%93present%29
[vi] Donnelly, Thomas “Obama Fiddles” The Weekly Standard June 25, 2012
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Jerusalem Post on-line June 26, 2012 jpost.com/headlines
[ix] Burke, Edmond Thoughts on the Cause of the Current Discontents (1770)
