Those who fail to learn from history will be doomed to repeat it

When people look back at, both, the battlefield and humanitarian horrors of World War II, it is natural for them to wonder, “How did everyone let that happen”.

That is, in fact, a very legitimate question as it seems criminal that no one did anything to stop the berserk Hitler regime of Nazi Germany during the 30’s and 40’s.

But when you look back at history, all the signs were there. It’s not as if Hitler suddenly had an epiphany one day during the war and realized he was in an existential struggle with the Jewish faith and therefore needed to quash it. No, he planned the Holocaust for years, as he laid out the plan in Mein Kampf that was published in the 20’s. He passed the Nuremberg laws that harshly discriminated against the Jews in 1935 and Kristallnacht, the night of rampant violence against the Jews, happened in 1938. The stated goal of the Nazi party was anti-Semitism for crying out loud!

The point is is that Hitler tipped his hand. All anyone had to do was listen to his speeches, follow his policies and track his actions to know that something awful was in store for the Jews of Europe.

Despite all of these horrid activities, people merely spoke out against him. Onlookers just shrugged as Germany quickly militarized its economy. Some like Neville Chamberlain and Josef Stalin even made truces with the Nazis to limit their aggression. But ultimately, Hitler turned his back on Chamberlain, spit in the face of Stalin by reneging on the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact to invade the Soviet Union and proceeded to pursue his pornographic quest of dominating the world and exterminating the Jewish people.

What was the cost of this indifference towards Nazi Germany?

70 million dead in World War II.

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m afraid we are about to relive this horrible chapter of our history by taking a similarly indifferent approach to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

Sure, President Obama and a host of other international politicians like England’s Gordon Brown and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy have spoken out about Iran’s nuclear aims, but as we’ve seen again and again with the Iranians, talk is cheap. After all, what has all this talking accomplished? Well, not one but two Iranian uranium enrichment plants, Iranian ballistic missile tests and an up tick in combative rhetoric coming out of Tehran.

What everyone has to understand about this situation is that the main goal of the Iranian government is to gain a nuclear weapon. That’s it. In fact, they want it badly enough that it is probably goals number 1-100 for them. Just as we saw with Europe’s sheepish handling of Nazi aggression in the 30’s, no amount of talking, no amount of negotiating, no amount of appeasement and no amount of sanctions will change a maniacal regime’s quest of achieving their ultimate goal…whether it be genocide or nuclear weaponry.

And just like Hitler, Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad doesn’t mince words. He has clearly stated that he wants to “wipe Israel off the map” and destroy any nation that gets in the way of Iran’s nuclear aspirations. So far, he has followed through with much of what he has said about pursuing nuclear power for Iran, so why should we not believe him when he talks about his desire to cause the destruction of Israel and the downfall of the West?

To me, ignoring Ahmadinejad’s ravings (no matter how insane they may be) is a gargantuan risk… one that is absolutely foolish to take, as it may result in the deaths of millions of people.

I know that I have written about this at great length, but that is because this is an enormous problem…one that is, literally, getting worse by the day. The only thing that will stop Iran from achieving its goal of obtaining a nuclear weapon is a military strike, simple as that, not the pathetic sanctions and cowardly lectures offered up by the international community.

With President Obama either unwilling or simply not having the stomach to initiate a strike against Iran, the only hope we have is that Israel does it themselves. If they don’t, a world with a nuclear-armed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a very frightening place.

I realize that those who oppose a military strike against Iran call people like me warmongers or accuse us of using scare tactics to make our points. Others say that we have enough problems of our own and that we should just focus on our affairs and not get entangled in the broils of foreign nations.

I know I’ve heard those comments before… oh yeah; they were made in the 1930’s when discussing how we should approach Hitler’s Germany.

That’s all for now folks. Until next time, take care and be well.

-John