CHURCHILL ON HUMAN NATURE, OR HOW TO DEAL WITH ISLAMO-NAZIS
Hitler announced his intentions to the world in Mein Kampf. So too have the Islamo-Nazis. Here are some of the highlights, not to be found in the NYTimes, of the Hamas terror organization's charter: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it."... "The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgement Day. It, or any part of it, should not be squandered: it, or any part of it, should not be given up. "..."There is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors."..."After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying."
True to their charter, Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups have followed the endorsement of the Road Map by increasing the number of terror assaults on Israeli citizens. True to their vow to attack and kill any and all Jews, these brave 'militants' have turned their guns on small children and proudly claim responsibility for the murder of a 7 year old. Meanwhile our diplomats redouble their efforts- urging restraint on Israel!
Learning nothing from history, our state Dept. and Iraq war allies have persuaded President Bush to pursue a diplomatic response to the genocidal Islamo-Nazis who hate us and wish to destroy Israel and America. Why is it so hard to draw useful lessons from history? Winston Churchill astutely suggested it is because of something deep in human nature-- the yearning to believe that all people are naturally good-- peace-seekers who merely need to be reasoned with. It is a belief that seems impervious to evidence. It is self-flattering to hold it because no one wishes to be seen as harsh and negative. It is the reigning assumption of contemporary liberalism: human nature is naturally good, though sometimes deformed by misunderstanding, mistreatment and deprivation. Neville Chamberlain was not an evil man. He was a peace seeker, animated, according to Churchill, his severest critic, by noble intentions and motives. He decided Hitler was a man he could trust. One can't help being reminded of President Bush, who felt good vibes when he gazed into the eyes of Vladimir Putin and Abu Mazen.
How is it that serious, intelligent, well meaning men can fall so readily under the spell of tyrants and Jew hating savages? Where and how does such wishful denial of reality arise? Churchill quotes the one minister in Chamberlain's cabinet, Mr. Duff Cooper, who resigned over the Munich agreement. Duff Cooper said: "The Prime Minister has believed in addressing Herr Hitler through the language of sweet reasonableness. I have believed that he was more open to the language of the mailed fist."
Why were the Duff Coopers and Churchills so rare and so reviled? The Gathering Storm, Churchill's first volume history of World WarII essays an answer. It is a somewhat overlooked fact that Churchill was an extremely shrewd observer of his fellow human beings. He begins with the Theme of the Volume: HOW THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES THROUGH THEIR UNWISDOM CARELESSNESS AND GOOD NATURE ALLOWED THE WICKED TO REARM. Churchill is true to this theme. He is determined to present not just a history of the war, but a treatise on human nature. He makes clear over and over again that "good nature", the wish to believe that all men are basically good, that all grievances can be addressed with reasoned benevolence failed when it encountered radical evil in Hitler. And so too, such a view of human nature is doomed to failure when it comes to present day Islamo-Nazis. Forcing Israel to accept a "roadmap to peace" will inflame the savages just as Chamberlain at Munich, inflamed the Nazi war machine. Chamberlain's road map to peace with Germany included the following declaration: "We, The German Fuehrer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister...regard the Agreement signed last night...as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe." He returned to England announcing "peace for our time." Following the war, at the Nuremberg trials, the Czech representative asked Marshal von Keitel: "Would the Reich have attacked Czechoslovakia in 1938 if the Western powers had stood by Prague?" Marshal Keitel answered: "Certainly not. We were not strong enough militarily. The object of Munich was to get Russia out of Europe, to gain time, and to complete the German rearmaments." Churchill accords full weight to Chamberlain's sincerity, his craving for peace, his moral stance, then adds: "Religion and virtue alike lend their sanctions to meekness and humility, not only between men but between nations...The Sermon on the Mount is the last word in Christian ethics. Everyone respects the Quakers. Still, it is not on these terms that Ministers assume their responsibilities of guiding States...If the circumstances warrant it, force may be used. And if this be so it should be used under the conditions which are most favourable. There is no merit in putting off a war for a year if, when it comes, it is a far worse war or one much harder to win."
Churchill concludes with his accession to power. Having made the point over and over that well meaning, peace seeking people paid no heed to his warnings, and in fact resented him and heaped scorn on him, he writes the following comments: "...I cannot conceal from the reader of this truthful account that as I went to bed at about 3 a.m. I was conscious of a profound sense of relief. At last I had authority to give directions over the whole scene...My warnings over the last six years had been so numerous, so detailed, and were now so terribly vindicated, that no one could gainsay me...I was sure I should not fail. Therefore although impatient for the morning, I slept soundly and had no need for cheering dreams. Facts are better than dreams." (Emphasis added)
How striking that Churchill's grim realism was accompanied by optimism! Indeed, indeed, when dealing with people who announce their wish to kill you, facts are far better than dreams.
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excellent analysis. I wince everytime I hear or read our governments reactions to palestinian terror and murder. If only Israel would respond with overwhelming force. To do otherwise is to seal their own fate.
p.s. please continue your insightful weblog. I read it everyday. plain truth...just the facts, maam.
Posted by: sirchams on June 20, 2003 02:07 AMI concur! Great quotes and great analysis. Churchill should be required reading (although he isn't) in all schools. His theme of his WWII history is a timeless warning: HOW THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES THROUGH THEIR UNWISDOM CARELESSNESS AND GOOD NATURE ALLOWED THE WICKED TO REARM. But then Churchill knew the English-speaking peoples were not military but primarily a commerical people with some regional exceptions. Hence the British tradition or relying on professional soldiers and mercenaries. Churchill, like Lincoln also believed there was good and there was evil and for good to win out it had to be strong and ready to fight when necessary.
You can't go wrong when you quote the likes of Churchill and Lincoln though it is amazing to me how much Truman and Kennedy owed to both these men as well. Today in the Democratic party Lincoln (as in 1860) in an anathama and so is Churchill. But moderates like Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy realized how much the world owed to Churchill. Certainly FDR realized it just the way Churchill realized what the world owed to FDR.
Winston Churchill understood that the world is a very dangerous place and the history of the survival and success of nations and empires relied on the abilty to impose order, clear the seas of piracy and wage war when necessary. Churchill was a military man after all and he saw active service in several campaigns in various English and Scottish regiments. As a student of American, Australian and Canadian history Churchill knew that the pioneers were not made "of sugar candy"; no rather indeed they were hardy men and women who praised the Lord and kept their powder dry and their knives sharp. The pioneer farmers had to fight hunger and thirst and conquer the challenges of survival on the frontier or distant islands.
You are right when you suggest that modern education favors the "liberal" view of Rousseau and others that "humankind" (a word I dislike) is essentially good and why can't we just get along. I admire Jefferson but do not disgard Adams or Hamilton who oftentime were right when Jefferson the idealist was wrong. But at least Jefferson was pragmatic enough, humble enough and intelligent enough to realize his mistakes and change to a more active foreign policy when necessary. Jefferson was above all a patriot before he was a Jeffersonian.
I believe it was Churchill who said that when one is dealing with a violent fanatic WHO WANTS TO DESTROY YOU one simply must speak to him in the only language he understands -violence. One can dress it up with euphemisms -such as measured force, surgical strike, security, counter-response- but the reality is society ,like the individual, MUST sometimes employ anger, violence and the threat of violence to defend itself.
All mankind (a word I like) -male and female alike- have a tendency towards altruism. Unless, traumatized to the contrary, we would all save an innocent child from drowning if possible without hesitation. So, yes, humanity has a tendency to want to love others and trust others. But if one studies the history of mankind one sees a pattern of violence and conflict. Any fair observer can see that people (particularly young males) are fascinated with adventure, danger and contests of strength. Look at the worldwide fascination with sport and action movies. We may try to 'civilize' (and castrate) the masculine, competitive instinct among our youth but as in Saki's Toys of Peace (a wonderful short story!)If one reads Saki's Toys of Peace one will get the sense that Horace did when he wrote naturam expelles furca tamen usque recurret or "Mother Nature you can drive out by pitchfork but she will still have enough in her to make her comeback and overcome man's will and man's puny effort".
I personally believe that while humans have an instinct for altruism and good they also have a very strong instinct to survive, endure and win out over opponents. Everyone knows winning the affections of a mate, winning a ball game, climbing a mountain, finishing a move to a new house, getting that contract, that recognition, achieving a goal yes everybody knows these things
are very satisfying and even thrilling.
The mystery of human nature in the role of creating human personality and character will remain.
The teaching is strong of course but the blood is strong and by blood I mean hereditary family qualities as well as human nature. These qualities or potential CAN be deformed or left undeveloped by poverty, hunger, cultural deprivation, anomie, broken homes and early experiences with abuse and mistreatment. As a teacher I cannot concern myself with the mystery of the qualities of the students before me nor the dwell incessently on the gaps on their previous education. As a teacher I must be an optmist and decide by gum I am going to get the "mostest with the leastest" knowing that much of the success of my students depends on factors beyond my control. Yet I have never ceased to be rewarded in my optimism. There is talent to be found almost everywhere. Yet one of the greatest barriers I have seen in education is the fear of the individual to become different from his or her peer-group or family. People are individuals of course but I think mankind is deeply a social and political animal and people seek comfort, protection and solace in groups. Hence the great need to conform.
In so far as the present crisis in Israel, I still think the situation is quite critical and STILL has the potential to destroy the world, literally destroy the world. I too do not shrink at the word Islamo-fascist or Islamo-Nazi as you put it. Many Americans and most Europeans are still living in a "Euro-pacifist" self-induced
illusion that all will yet be well and that there IS NO REAL THREAT when in fact the threat to western civilization as we know it is probably as great or greater than in the 1930's. In a very real sense I feel that this nationlistic, anti-semitic, anti-American sentiment is the a direct consequence of the introduction of fascist and totalitarian ideas into a very backward Arab and Muslim world.
Many liberals deluded themselves into thinking that the Communist threat was not a big deal and that with the fall of the wall we would enter a new world of peace and harmony. The fact is the Communist threat was reduced (not eliminated) and contained through a vigorous US Policy of anti-Communist containment from Truman and embraced by both parties until the denouement of the Vietnam war and the fatal splintering -in my view- of the old FDR-Truman-Kennedy-Johnson coaltions.
The Democratic party USED to have a strong moderate and conservative wing but at present it has tilted (irrevocably I think) far to the left of tens of millions of middle class social conservatives (who nevertheless are economically liberal or moderate). People like Kerry can win the Democratic party nomination 'by a landslide' but that whole crooked quota Democratic scheme is so fixed and so tilted to the left that against any moderate Republican with anything thing on the ball the Democrats are doomed to lose in 2004. Only in New York can they really entertain the fantasy that Ms. Clinton can really out do Gore (or McGovern). Here's a lady who FLED Arkansas (a state lost by Democrats) to build a career based on the liberal establishment of New York! You have to win more than just a few states to win the electoral college including all those small ones.
The American people since 9/11 realize once again that the world is not a dainty hankerchief but wild world of non-producers, haters, killers and destroyers
who seek power and influence the old fashion way BY FORCE, BY TERROR AND BY INTIMIDATION. 'Tis the old law, those who can keep and those who can take. Until the golden future time of eternal peace we would do best to praise the Lord, pass the ammunition and praise the men and women who guard us while we sleept. We are going to need them in the coming years which will know many attacks and much killing and mayhem.
In most of the world there 'ain't no ten comandments, there ain't no Constitution and God help them who ain't got a strong band of brothers to smash their foes, men like the fighting IDF, the British Army, the Airborne and the Marines. It may be pretty to think about "world peace" and world unity but any hope of that is far off. The reality in which we live is of a savage world, a dog-eat-dog human jungle of competing factions some of which will rather commit suicide as individuals or as a people rather than attempt the "shame" and dishonor" of peaceful coexistence.
Posted by: Ricardo Munro on June 20, 2003 03:53 PMThis tendency to imprudently generous interpretation of those who would destroy us may be related to whatever it is that makes combat soldiers reluctant to kill, or even to fire their rifles at, the enemy. I’ve read about this phenomenon in various places on the Web. A small percentage of combat soldiers will do a large share of the killing.
Posted by: ForNow on June 23, 2003 02:40 AMIt's not all lies - not all of it. That's the age-old dilemma.
Posted by: Davidov Veronica on December 11, 2003 01:29 AMIdeas on Earth are badges of friendship or enmity.
Posted by: Hornick Andrea on December 21, 2003 03:01 AM