James Fox

The Appeasers

Since the beginning of time the people have yearned, cried and begged for peace. Mothers didn't want their sons and husbands to leave home to fight in some war that resulted in their loved ones never returning; or if they did return, they would be maimed in both body and spirit.

However, since the beginning of time wars have been fought, fought over a vast number of issues both religious and political. In fact, if there hadn't been all those wars, there would have been no recorded history because history is created by change; and war is the prime motivator of change. In peace and harmony there is no incentive for change.

The desires of the populace for peace have been noble but always ineffectual because diplomacy or capitulation is no deterrent to aggression. The only thing an aggressor fears is a power that is overwhelmingly greater than their own power; and the sure knowledge that aggression on their part will result in total annihilation.

After the First World War, (The war to end all war) war weary nations banded together to form the League of Nations, designed to be the world police force. They were supposed to, at the first sign of overt aggression, crush the offending country, remove the aggressive leaders from power and restore law and order to the area, but would they?

"In September 1934, Mussolini had decided to take Ethiopia. Haile Sellassie looked to the League of Nations, complaining that Italian forces had no right being within Ethiopia's frontiers." Almost from the crisis's onset, there was little chance of a peaceful settlement because in December Mussolini decided on war as the best way to destroy Ethiopia's potential threat. In his opinion, Italy would have to act before mid- 1937, when Germany would have regained sufficient strength to take the initiative in Europe. Then in 1939 Russia decided it would gobble up Finland, and once again the League of Nations watched like a bunch of frightened children.

We all know what happened when Hitler started his Blitzkrieg across Europe. It took years and thousands of American lives before we could defeat all those bullies and restore order. Once again, war weary people decided to create a powerful organization to maintain order and peace between nations, so they created the United Nations (UN) organization. And once again we see complete apathy and squeamishness on the part of member nations when it comes time to give up diplomacy and join in an effort to crush all aggressors.

In both cases the logic and intent was ethical and sound, but there was no united will to carry out the mission and enforce peace, at whatever the cost in lives at the moment.

Our European allies are a group of weak and neutered nations, Russia is weakened but still a super power, China is both an industrial and military menace looming on the horizon. There are mini-wars going on all over the globe; and now we have global terrorism. It is almost too late for us to assert our superior power and avert the inevitable disaster that awaits us if we do not take the initiative and shut down these menaces.