1938, Part II

It feels like 1938 (not that I was there). A grave threat to civilization is on the horizon, threatening the world. The appeasers in the world are shouting “Peace in our time”. Brave leaders are mocked and ridiculed as being out-of-touch and trigger-happy. What the appeasers do not realize is that history is at yet another crossroads, facing another threat. In 1938 it was Nazi fascism. In the latter half of the 20th century, it was Leninist/Stalinist-Marxism. Now, in the 21st century, it is Islamo-fascism. Islamo-fascism and Nazi fascism have different roots, but a very similar ideology. Both hate the Jewish people, and both feel that their ideology is the superior one. In Nazi Germany, it was the so-called Master Race, the Aryan race. In Islamo-fascism, it is the master religion, to which all other religions and ideologies are the infidel. In Nazi Germany, the Germans formed alliances with unlikely allies, such as Imperial Japan. Today, unlikely allies are being formed between Islamo-fascist Iran and the last serious remnants of totalitarian Marxism, North Korea.

What happened in 1938? The appeasers won out. Peace in our time was achieved, for the moment, by the caving into the fascists and giving them part of Czechoslovakia. Within two years, the whole world was at war. The lesson? Radical ideologies that are bent on world domination, either politically or religiously, cannot be appeased. They cannot be dealt with on diplomatic terms. Peace is not a virtue in their minds as it is in ours. That is the weakness of the West. We have made peace at any cost such a virtue that we are blind to the realities of evil men and women around us. A columnist whom I can’t recall at the moment recently said that if peace talks and cease fires were successfully and a measure of peace, the Israel/Palestine area would be the most peaceful place on earth. Cease-fires without a victory over people who do not value peace, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, do nothing but prolong the violence. Cease fires are merely a pause in hostilities while the terrorists re-arm.

Obviously not every German subscribed to the ideology of Hitler. There have been many heroic stories of people within his country doing what they could to save Jewish people, resist Hitler in small ways, and aid the Allied powers. But that didn’t stop the Nazi machine from marching West. There are estimates that about 5% to 10% of the world’s Muslims subscribe to Islamo-fascism. From a percentage standpoint, that seems very small. However, when one considers that there are one billion Muslims in the world, even the low estimate of 5% brings the number of Islamo-fascists to 50 million people. Even if the other 950 million Muslims sit by and do nothing, the 50 million will do their best to destroy any civilization except the radical brand of Islam that they profess.

We are on the cusp of a focal point in history. Iran has thumbed its nose at the UN, vowing to continue uranium enrichment, while at the same time continuing to support Hezbollah in Lebanon. Syria is continuing to supply Hezbollah with arms and is preparing its troops for war. North Korea is becoming more and more dangerous after the almost laughable missile tests and the economic sanctions imposed on the UN, which North Korea says is an act of war. Our choices are to deal with these problems now, use whatever means necessary to neutralize these threats, or deal with the consequences. The lesson of 1938 shows that appeasement is not an option.