Peace in Our Time; Obama and Chamberlain

“When experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.“  George Santayana

In the most classic case of appeasement in history,  Hitler demanded in 1938 that Czechoslovakia cede part of its territory to Germany, (the Sudetenland which contained a majority of Germans). When Czechoslovakia refused, Germany prepared for for war. Fearing a major war, Neville Chamberlain, then prime Minister of Britain, forced Czechoslovakia to agree to give up this part of its territory. He then travelled to Munich for a meeting of Germany, Italy, Britain and France, (Czechoslovakia was excluded from the meeting) where an agreement was signed on Sept 30, 1938, leading Chamberlain to boast that he had averted war.

Fear of war was very high in Britain.  The tremendous toll of World War 1 was still a recent memory. The lethal terror of German bombers had been demonstrated at Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. And so when Chamberlain announced the agreement, and said that he had brought about “peace for our time” his actions were very popular.

While the British people were cheering, the lesson for Hitler  was that he had a free hand and did not have to fear retaliation from Britain or France. This led him to subsequently be far more aggressive, and the  combination of Hitler’s aggression and Britain’s appeasement set the stage for World War 2

After Chamberlain's return to Britain he told parliament that “The real triumph is that it has shown that representatives of four great Powers can find it possible to agree on a way of carrying out a difficult and delicate operation by discussion instead of by force of arms, and thereby they have averted a catastrophe which would have ended civilization as we have known it”.

There were dissenting voices. Winston Churchill, not yet Prime Minister, warned against the agreement, referring to it as “ a total unmitigated defeat“ Not surprisingly, Churchill was labeled a war monger. In a prescient statement, Churchill  said that  "You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor

and you will have war."

In less that one year, World War 2 was underway, a war that killed . 60 million persons (2.5% of the population). This was a war that was preventable, had Britain and France recognized the risks of appeasement when up against aggressive tyranny.

And now, 70 years later, we are again faced with a tyranny that has announced its intent to annihilate another nation, that is the chief sponsor of terrorists in the world today, and  that is racing to develop nuclear weapons that will be used not only against Israel but against Europe ant the US.

And once again, using the threat of military means to force Iran to give up its nuclear program is unpopular, as many citizens believe that negotiations with fanatics who welcome death is a reasonable way to proceed, long after it has become clear that this is not  working. This has been the promise of President Obama, even while it  has become crystal clear that Iran is continuing its race to have and to use the ultimate weapon.

Recently, FresnoZionism.comhttp://fresnozionism.org/2012/10/will-obama-soon-announce-peace-in-our-time/ has written a peace outlining the possibility of an October surprise by our President that would mirror and replicate the Munich mistake.

In the article it is suggested that a former CIA operative, "Reza Khalili", claims that the Obama administration has made a deal with Iran in which Iran will temporarliy reduce its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions. 

This would give Obama an enormous boost, validating his foreign policy approach, claiming that war has been avoided, and winning the election before anyone can find the whole thing is a sham. 

Further, it would preclude US  military action, and make an attack by Israel almost impossible. 

Further, the article claims that  

"In the event that Iran doesn’t live up to the terms of the agreement, it will be that much further along, sanctions will be gone, Iran will have recouped much of its economic losses, and it may be too late for Israel, or even the US, to end the program by force.

 [US] guarantees would ensure the regime’s right to peaceful enrichment, quickly remove many of the sanctions, accept that Iran’s nuclear program does not have a military dimension and relieve international pressure on the regime while it continues its nuclear program". 

Such a deal would be a disaster for both Israel and the US, but would help Iran and Obama's campaign. And it would guarantee that Iran will be a nuclear power. 

Can this happen between now and the election? Stay tuned. 

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