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Posted on 11/02/2001 11:04:35 PM PST by pittsburgh gop guy
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Pacifists today play right into the hands of Osama bin Laden Saturday, November 03, 2001 By Rafal Geremek I watched on TV the same Washington peace demonstration last month that Marc Cooper mentioned in his essay "Lost Liberals, Stuck in Scold Mode," published in Forum on Oct. 21. When I saw cowardice and thoughtlessness parading together, I was sickened. I agree with Cooper that there was nothing behind the peace symbols. But unlike Cooper, I'm not concerned about the lack of fresh ideas on the American left. I was more concerned with how harmful these people are.
Their voices are not being heard widely. But in the future, if war lasts longer than expected, they might gain terrain again. People who think that the peace demonstrators are only a bunch of idealists are profoundly wrong. They really weaken the free world, as they have done in the past. When I think about pacifists, I think about how many victims they have on their conscience. Only in my country, Poland, I can count pacifists' victims as 6 million people -- 3 million Polish Christians and 3 million Polish Jews. Pacifists did a lot to make Hitler's plans real. In 1936, when Hitler introduced the Nazi army to Rhineland, the demilitarized western province of Germany, the Polish government proposed to France to launch a quick action against the Nazis. At that time, the Third Reich was not so strong; the war might have lasted only a few months. And after that we wouldn't have heard about Hitler anymore. But France did nothing. Two years later, French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier and Neville Chamberlain of Britain sold out Czechoslovakia to Hitler. They were proud that they saved the peace. Churchill was right when he said this about Munich Agreement: "They had a chance to choose between war and disgrace. They chose disgrace and they will have a war." One year later, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. France and Britain declared war on Germany, but they sat idle. In history, this event is known as a "phony war." They did nothing mainly due to the pacifist temper of time. On the streets throughout France, thousands of people (the communists were most active) marched chanting slogans, "We don't want to die for Gdansk" (Gdansk, the Polish port city, had a status of free town before the war, and was a subject of dispute between Poland and Germany). Less than one year later, they had to die for Paris, but it was too late. During the Cold War, pacifists did a great favor for Kremlin rulers, from Stalin to Brezhnev, effectively weakening the will of Western democracies to defy communism. Stalin called Western pacifists "useful idiots." He spurned them, but appreciated their support. Anyone who dared to organize an anti-government demonstration in Soviet Russia ended up in labor camp deep in Siberia, if he was lucky not to be executed right away. I know that the Vietnam War is very touchy subject in America. Many Americans still feel that their country should not have taken part in that conflict. But for me, the memories of "boat people" who suffered from Hanoi's totalitarian regime are more moving and convincing than Oliver Stone's movies. In the 1950s, '60s and '70s, the American military jacket was a dress of young Polish intelligentsia, it was the best souvenir from a visit in the United States for many. On the black market, it fetched the price of a monthly salary or even more. People living in communism, in the most wicked and stupid system in the world's history, were deeply convinced that U.S. Army fought for them in such places as Vietnam. The U.S. Army jacket was a symbol of that. In my country, also Ronald Reagan is perceived as a hero, because he knew how to deal with the Soviets: He didn't care about pacifists; he put the Fatherland of the International Proletariat in military technological competition that it couldn't sustain. Without President Reagan, communism might have not fallen in 1989 in Central Europe, but many years later. Now pacifists are useful for Osama Bin Laden and his friends. They claim that the war may cause death of hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians. It's not true. They may die because of Taliban regime and hunger that is result of its inefficient economical policy. The fall of Taliban regime and international aid may bring the hope to this country. In various peace demonstrations, I have seen many young people. If Congress reinstates the draft (which so far is an abstraction), those youngsters cannot escape to Canada like many from their parents' generation. This is a different war. Some young people who don't want to join the military say are courageous and decent. They say straight: "I'm scared". The other who are scared say: "War is not a solution" and certainly they support pacifists' demonstrations. There is a solution for those who want to do something for country, but don't want to be soldiers. Charles Moskos, a military sociologist at Northwestern University, was quoted in The New York Times as proposing national service positions for homeland security. Airport security should be one of them. Marc Cooper wondered how powerful the pacifists' demonstration might have been if they had carried flags with stars and stripes. When I saw them, there was one thing I liked: I realized that they would not dare to burn the American flag, as demonstrators did in previous decades. I have my own small American flag, which I found on street (probably fell off a car window). I think it will be my best souvenir from this country. 0) BadCount++; |
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