Jul. 31, 2006 - 16:32 MDT

BEFORE CHRIST

Is when it began. Now they are trying again. There is an article in this morning's Rocky Mountain News by Thomas Sowell of Creator's Syndicate that is of great interest to me. I first ran into his name through my son-in-law who touted him as an economist, but through the years I began to read his columns. Here in full is what he has to say today, quoted in full:

'WORLD OPINION' DURING WWII

"Those of us old enough to remember World War II face many painful reminders of how things have changed in Americans' behavior during a war."

We were all in it together -- and we knew it. People who had been highly critical of American foreign policy before we were attacked at Pearl Harbor now fell silent and devoted themselves to winning the war."

"What if the people, institutions, and attitudes of today were somehow taken back in time to World War II ? What would have been the result ? What about the great cry of the hour, a cease-fire ?"

"It so happens that World War II had the biggest cease-fire in history. It was called "the phony war because although France was offcially at war with Germany, the French did very little fighting for months, while the bulk of the German army was in Poland and France had overwhelming military superiority on the western front."

"Famed correspondent William L. Shirer reported on the "unreal" western front, with soldiers "on both sides looking but not shooting."

"During this period Hitler offered to negotiate peace with France and England, Kofi Annan would have loved it."

"On Nov. 19, 1939, Shirer's diary reported: "For almost two months now there has been no military action on land, sea , or in the air." On January 1,1940, he wrote, "this phony kind of war cannot continue long."

"Did this de facto cease-fire lead to peace ? No. Like other cease-fires, it helped the aggressor. It gave Hitler time to move his divisions from the eastern front, after they had conquered Poland, to the western front, facing France."

"Now that military superiority along the Rhine had shifted in favor of the German armies, the war suddenly went from being phony to being devastatingly real. Hitler attacked and France collapsed in six weeks."

"Eventually, by 1945, allied armies had both Germany and Japan retreating. What would have happened if we had had Kofi Annan and the mushy mindset called "world opinion" at work then ? Kofi Annan would undoubtedly have called for a cease-fire."

"He could have pointed out that the American response to Germany was wholly "disproportionate" because the Germans had never landed troops in America or bombed American cities, and were certainly no real threat to the United States at that point."

"Much of the Japanese Navy was at the bottom of the ocean by this time and most of their planes had been shot down. Why not a negotiated settlement, in order to spare innocent civilian lives ? And what if we had listened to such talk ? No doubt Germany and Japan would have signed some kind of negotiated agreement in order to get the allied armies off their backs and get some breathing room."

"Both Germany and Japan had programs to try to build nuclear bombs. One of the Nazis' last acts before surrendering was to send material by submarine to Japan to help advance their nuclear program."

"Any peace we might have negotiated with Japan wold have given the Japanese time to develop not only nuclear technology but also war planes whose plans had been gotten from Germany, which had the most advanced planes in the world at that time."

"But we didn't cease firing until our enemies were defeated. Kofi Anmnan and today's "world opinion" would not have liked that."

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In the paper above that is a rather surrealistic cartoon by someone signing -- H. Payne. It shows a man carrying a U.N. briefcase, standing railside at Auschwitz talking to incoming Jews and he is saying, "We're sympathetic to your plight -- just so long as you don't go retaliating in self-defense."

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I remember that Israel has been under attack since they became a country after centuries of Diaspora and wonder why everyone seems to be trying to get them from fighting the forces that are trying to kill all of them ?

I spent some time googling around, first on the Balfour Declaration and the British change about and saying it wouldn't be a good idea later on. Then I googled the Diaspora which began before Christ and if the present day antagonists have their way there will be no more diaspora, because the Jews will be wiped off the face of the earth, much as Hitler wished.

Or at lease Diasporaed again from their country, back into the world where they have been despised for centuries.

I will admit that I have lost a few people I thought were friends when I mentioned that I had Jewish blood in my veins. So be it.

My Dad didn't find out 'til Heather and I had chilren, 'twas a great shock to him as he hated people of color and Jews. And suddenly he found out he were one. Or at least had the blood. It did give me that "home again feeling" when I set foot on the ground at Ashdod, Israel, figured it would, I always loved halvah, nova lox, cream cheese and bagels.

So tonight I sit bemused and this Wondering Jew wonders if there will ever be peace for people who were harassed continually way back BEFORE CHRIST . . . . . . . . . .

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