Europe and America
are the origin of the universal civilization
- democracy, human rights, free speech
and freedom of religion.
This civilization used to have a racial taint, but no longer.
Now every race and every religion can join in.
The whole world -
every race and every religion
- should adopt these universal ideas.
Europe should be side by side with America in
spreading these ideas to the whole world.
If the whole world adopts these universal ideas
it will mean
the end of war and the end of famine
forever.
Europe and America:
The last great hot war to destroy Western democratic civilization.
Animation showing rise and fall of the Fascist Axis in WW2, 1939-45.
From here.
See full size.
When my parents were children,
Britain and Ireland were almost alone as democracies
in Europe.
France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy,
Eastern Europe and Russia weren't democracies.
When I was a child,
Spain, Portugal, Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia
and half of Germany weren't democracies.
When I was 20,
Eastern Europe, Russia
and half of Germany weren't democracies.
Even today,
Russia
and other ex-Soviet states
are not democracies.
If we go back far enough, America, Britain and Ireland
were flawed democracies of course,
with only certain races, religions, classes and sexes
able to vote.
But in terms of
multiple parties competing
to form a government
with real power, and giving up power peacefully
after free debate, and elections among at least
a few thousand elite people,
America has
a flawed democratic tradition of
over 200 years now,
and Britain and Ireland have
a flawed democratic tradition of
over 300 years now.
This, I think, is really the underlying
reason why Europe is not as confident
about defending the west as older democracies like Britain and America.
Democracy is still new in Europe, and still putting down its roots.
A Short Reflection on Anti-Americanism, the Prejudice
by Joey Tartakovsky
- "Let us instead pose a solitary question to confound our massed detractors:
if American values and institutions are so corrupt and inferior, then explain,
without reference to said values,
why the U.S. is the most brawny, inventive, self-governing and prosperous republic in history.
Tell us why our fair land has never known a dictator in 228 years of existence."
World should give thanks for America, Mark Steyn, November 17, 2007.
Notes how Europeans think their culture is "older" than America's.
"But Americans aren't novelty junkies on the important things. The New World is one of the oldest settled constitutional democracies on Earth, to a degree the Old World can barely comprehend.
... We know Eastern Europe was a totalitarian prison until the Nineties, but we forget that Mediterranean Europe (Greece, Spain, Portugal) has democratic roots going all the way back until, oh, the mid-Seventies; France and Germany's constitutions date back barely half a century, Italy's only to the 1940s,
...
The U.S. Constitution is not only older than France's, Germany's, Italy's or Spain's constitution, it's older than all of them put together. Americans think of Europe as Goethe and Mozart and 12th century castles and 6th century churches, but the Continent's governing mechanisms are no more ancient than the Partridge Family. Aside from the Anglophone democracies, most of the nation-states in the West have been conspicuous failures at sustaining peaceful political evolution from one generation to the next, which is why they're so susceptible to the siren song of Big Ideas - communism, fascism, European Union."
Steven den Beste
on Europe's dreadful track record,
and America's strong track record of saving Europeans:
"We're not interested in listening to European advice
because the Europeans have proved that their advice is worthless."
"The Twentieth Century is a tapestry of European failure and American success.
If there's any arrogance here, it's the one held in the capitols
of Europe where they still think of the US as some sort of rambunctious teenager
who is strong but stupid and needs to be led by older and
wiser heads. Experience proves otherwise. We've made our mistakes,
but we haven't set off two world wars. That honor goes to our good
friends in the UK, Germany and France,
who don't seem to understand why the US isn't eager to follow their advice."
Europe should be side by side with America
in defending the free world
and spreading democracy and freedom to all of the world.
Many Europeans see this,
and - sometimes despite their own governments -
millions of people in Europe support
America.
Indeed, despite everything, Europe is still the base
of America's strongest support in the world.
The Resentments of Old Europe
by William Hague, March 17, 2003:
"Without America, France would have lived in a dark age of dictatorship for decades. Without America, Germans could not have rescued themselves from a racist ideology.
And without America, Europe's only alternative to Nazi tyranny would have been communist tyranny."
Let Them Come to Berlin
by Thomas L. Friedman, November 3, 2002,
on why Europe should support America:
"With a nod to J.F.K., my motto today is simple:
"Ich bin ein New Yorker." We are all New Yorkers now.
Wherever you live, if you believe in the open society,
if you cherish a world of freedom, you are now in World War III
- a war against the new totalitarians, who strike at our businesses,
discos, airports and theaters in an attempt to get us to shut ourselves
in and our societies down. Either we fight this war together, or we lose it together.
To those who forgot what it takes to defend the open society, let them come to Berlin
- let them walk the winding path where the Wall once stood
and recall the collective effort that brought it down."
A collective effort in which Ireland, again to its shame,
played no part.
French have much to be humble about,
by Gerard Henderson, June 1, 2004:
"At a time when the "give-peace-a-chance" mantra is again prevalent in the land,
it is worth recording that Adolf Hitler's regime was crushed by military force
and that the D-Day landings were led by the Americans and the British. No member of any pacifist society,
nor any member of any international organisation, ever troubled Hitler's Reich. What's more,
despite Charles de Gaulle's attempt to rewrite history,
the French played only a small part in their nation's liberation in 1944 and 1945."
For a brief moment, it looked as if the Madrid bombings
would make Europe finally understand
and join with America, Britain and Israel.
But then the election result showed that this was instead
a total victory for Al-Qaida,
and one that will encourage them to try again.
When will Europe wake up?
Islamofascists setting off bombs full of shrapnel
in packed commuter trains.
Hundreds dead.
Will this finally make Europe understand
what Israel is going through?
Probably not. It will probably take a lot more attacks on Europe
for Europe to wake up,
and join with America, Britain and
Israel at last.
Total victory for Al-Qaida:
They bomb Madrid just before the Spanish election.
The frightened people vote their government out of office
and vote in appeasers.
The appeasers say they will pull the Spanish troops out of Iraq.
Total victory for Al-Qaida.
And they killed hundreds of infidels to boot.
They will be delighted with this result.
And this will encourage them to try again.
"A victory for appeasement. A victory for cowardice. The Spanish people demonstrated today that they have no courage."
"From now on, the bad guys know they can win"
From a US soldier:
"I'm sorry to see that the civilians have surrendered so easily; the Spanish soldiers I have met over here seem to be made
of much sterner stuff."
"Congratulations to Spain for saying "yes" to mass murder."
"I think this attack was a tipping point and one that all democracies should rue. Big win for terror today."
Stanley Kurtz is appalled:
- "Appeasement and shame, thy name is Spain.
This people lives an ocean away
from us. Yet they have brought shame on all of us.
...
Many Spanish themselves - having acted without courage or
forethought in the heat of the moment
- may soon regret what they've done."
Glenn Reynolds -
"Terrorists have succeeded in toppling the Spanish government ...
The Spanish electorate has made a very shortsighted
and cowardly decision, and the world may suffer as a result."
Tony Allwright
- "There can be no clearer, more craven example of appeasement to the Al Qaeda terrorists."
David Frum
- "Terrorism has won a mighty victory in Spain.
...
Lesson: terrorism can work. Prediction: therefore expect more of it."
Robert Kagan
- "al Qaeda's most significant geopolitical success since Sept. 11, 2001".
David Brooks
- "Al Qaeda will regard Spain as a splendid triumph.
...
today more than any other,
it really does appear that Americans
are from Mars, Europeans are from Venus."
"I have a message to the people of Spain: You are weak, and you are stupid. By
blaming your own government for the attack, and electing one that will carry out
al-Qaeda's wishes in Iraq, you've given in to the terrorists.
...
Yours is the kind of stupidity that kills. It may kill more of you, next time, or more of us.
You've spoken up on behalf of Europe, for all the world's terrorists to hear"
"Aznar may be responsible for drawing al-Qaeda's gaze to Spain, the way everyone who
has ever stood up for what's right drew the attention of their enemies.
... But you, the people of Spain, will be responsible for
something far worse:
for inviting more attacks, for confirming al-Qaeda's beliefs about
European democracy, and for punishing those among you who showed resolve in the
war on terror."
"this was not panic from a fickle leader but an overwhelming expression
of public fear and intimidation. I am afraid it confirms what most of us have
thought for some
time about the Europeans"
"not since Theodosius and the late Romans paid their annual bribe money to Attila
have we seen such success in bullying and terrifying a Western nation.
It is right off the pages of Gibbon in his discussion of how weak, wealthy, and fearful Westerners paid
Goths and Huns
before Adrianople and Chalons.
And this is the beginning not the end of it, as we shall soon see."
"All Americans feel terrible about the Spanish mass murder,
but how can we express our solidarity when the reaction is to repudiate both us and Spaniards
who were allied
with us? And contrast the American example: 26 days after 9-11 we were in Afghanistan
attacking the Taliban and al Qaeda; the Spaniards in 48 hours were turning out to
apologize. A sad day for the West."
The fundamental argument of appeasement is that:
"A war on Islamic terror will only create more terrorists".
People believe that taking the war to the Islamists
in their home countries will only create more terrorists
and make things worse.
Supposedly, for every terrorist you kill,
many more will take his place.
Apparently intelligent people believe this.
The Fear Factor
by Bret Stephens
- Does attacking your enemy make him stronger?
Israel's experience shows otherwise."In 2003, the number of Israeli terrorist fatalities declined by more than 50% from the previous year,
to 213 from 451. The overall number of attacks also declined, to 3823 in 2003 from 5301 in 2002,
a drop of 30%."
Why is this?
How on earth could Israel attacking its enemies have made them weaker?
Melanie Phillips
sums it up:
"The logic of
Freedland's argument, therefore, is that if the west is attacked, it
should do nothing to defend itself for fear of swelling the enemy's
numbers. Probably appeasement is
not the right word for this. The
right word is surrender."
Charles Krauthammer
- "When confronting an existential enemy
- an enemy that wants to terminate your very existence
- there are only two choices: appeasement or war.
In the 1930s Europe chose appeasement. Today Spain has done so again."
Thomas Patrick Carroll
- "For Spain, if the lesson was not learned in Munich in 1938, it will not be learned in Madrid today.
Their humiliating capitulation is something the Spaniards must face alone,
quietly as they lie awake at night in their beds.
It's probably better the rest of us simply avert our eyes and move on."
The Trouble With Islam by ex-jihadi Tawfik Hamid, April 3, 2007,
on the message sent out by the massive post-Madrid street demonstrations.
It was not what the demonstrators think:
"after the Madrid train bombings, millions of Spanish citizens demonstrated
against their separatist organization, ETA. But once the demonstrators realized
that Muslims were behind the terror attacks they suspended the demonstrations.
This example sent a message to radical Islamists to continue
their violent methods."
Appeasement didn't work
Spain abased itself in front of the jihadist murderers.
Spain tried to appease the jihad.
And it didn't work.
The jihad against Spain continues.
As it does for all of Europe.
Yet within weeks the Islamists were setting up bombs again.
Nothing Spain can do will stop these people.
Zapatero's Spain
by Christopher Caldwell
- "Spain's entire sense of its safety rests on the idea that March 11 was condign punishment
for its participation in the Iraq war. If Spaniards stopped believing that,
they would fall into a panic, and they are fighting against a great deal of evidence
to make sure they don't."
These guys want to kill us anyway,
Mark Steyn,
March 15, 2004
- on how there's nothing you can do.
Electing appeasers will not make Al-Qaida want to stop
killing the Spanish.
The Spanish dishonoured their dead
by Mark Steyn
- "At the end of last week, American friends kept saying to
me: "3/11 is Europe's 9/11. They get it now." I expressed
scepticism. And I very much doubt whether March 11 will
be a day that will live in infamy. Rather, March 14 seems
likely to be the date bequeathed to posterity, in the way we
remember those grim markers on the road to conflagration
through the 1930s, the tactical surrenders that made
disaster inevitable. All those umbrellas in the rain at
Friday's marches proved to be pretty pictures for the
cameras, nothing more."
The Iraqi blog "Iraq the Model"
responds to Spain's shameful decision to abandon Iraq
- "Why should I be strong while watching others run away; Spain, Honduras, Thailand,
human organizations, the UN and all the others who want (and it's their right I must say)
to avoid the dangers. But why did they disappoint us?
Why abandon us in this moment when we really need them?"
The Spanish troops react:
We let our allies down, say Spanish troops back from Iraq.
- "We felt used and let down by the politicians.
Zapatero made the move purely for his own popularity.
...
No thanks were given. There was no encouragement for the job we did.
...
I would not want to exaggerate but it is a little like the American troops returning from Vietnam.
There were no thanks. You came back and you could feel the indifference."
Spain's attempt at appeasement did not work.
They are still infidels, so they are still a target,
and always will be, as long as violent Islamism exists.
The only solution is to destroy violent Islamism.
"War with Israel is not subject to a treaty, cease fire,
Sykes-Picot Treaty agreements, patriotism or
disputed borders, but it is jihad for the Cause of Allah
until the entire religion is for Him only. Jihad
seeks the liberation of Palestine,
the entire country of Palestine and to liberate every land that used to be a territory of Islam, from Spain to Iraq."
Well Spain, that didn't work.
"As far as you, oppressed and weak, victims of the idolatry,
oppressing Western civilization and America
its leader, do stand together with us because we stand by you against oppression and idols which are
forbidden by Allah and His Book: The way is only against those who oppress men and rebel in the earth
without justification; for such there will be a painful torment.
[Ash-Shura 42:42]
Stand by us so we
can bring back the rights to the people, and the symbol of oppression falls from the history of
humanity."
He seems to be calling on non-Muslims
to stand with them in the fight.
"Stand with us. We will kill you last." seems to be the message.
I also love the way he says they are opposed to Western civilization.
And says America is its leader. High praise indeed.
Islamist suicide bomb plot in Spain, Jan 2008. "You Mean Appeasement Doesn't Work?"
"the cell had been planning suicide attacks last weekend on the public transport network in Barcelona".
Prosecutor says"the Barcelona cell was inspired by speeches by Osama bin Laden about the "loss of Andalucia".
Germany is a target:
Attempted German train bombing, 2006.
Germany's neutrality and treachery over Iraq gained it nothing.
They are still infidels, so they are still targets.
Bush was right. They do not hate us because of what we do.
They hate us because of who we are.
Every infidel western country is a target, no matter what it does.
Every infidel western country should support the war against these people,
for its own self-interest if nothing else.
In their own self interest,
France, Russia, Spain and Germany should all support the front-line troops of
America, Britain and Israel
in the War on Islamism.
Train bombing plot surprises Germany:
"The planned attack here stunned Germans who thought the country's vehement opposition to the
Iraq war would insulate it from becoming a terror target".
Idiots. Don't they realise they are infidels?
Let me not close with pessimism.
Let me attempt some optimism about Europe.
12 million people marched on the streets of Spain
after the attacks.
12 million people.
Raw, angry, frightened.
This is the voice of the people.
If you want a war, this is what it will look like.
All they need to realise is where to direct their anger
- not against the Spanish government, not against Bush,
not against America -
but against Islamism,
and the Islamists will regret it.
It is often forgotten that
Europe is a sleeping giant too.
Europe invented the western way of war.
Europe killed 100 million people in the last century.
If Islamism ever succeeds in waking up Europe,
and Europe re-arms and joins America in all-out war,
Islamism will be destroyed.
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt, Syria, Libya
- all will be invaded, and forcibly reformed.
Real western imperialism will come back.
The only reason Islamism has had such success so far
is because the West still does not take it seriously.
I will still optimistically believe that,
as soon as Europe sees an existential threat,
it will wake up and Islamism will be destroyed.
I just hope we don't have to lose a city first.
If there is one lesson of the 20th century failure
to deal with the Nazis
and Soviets
from the start,
it is that
it would be far better to destroy Islamism now,
when it is new and weak,
rather than wait until it is strong.
We think of Europe as pacifist, but with its blood-soaked history
it is more accurate to think of it as irrational.
Pacifism is merely the current phase
of its irrationality.
While America showed great restraint
in its response to 9/11,
Europe might not be so rational.
If the Islamists kill thousands in Paris, say,
France might go straight from pacifism to genocide.
The Islamists really
do not want this to happen.
U2's 9/11 tribute to America.
At Super Bowl 2002
half-time.
And search.
Bono is not American. He is Irish, like me.
And I feel about America the same way Bono does.
And so do hundreds of millions of people, in Ireland, Britain, Europe and around the world.
"Belgian Foreign Minister
Louis Michel said that his country does not believe it was a target and that the consulate was "collateral
damage." A Jewish-owned restaurant in front of the consulate was likely the real target, he said."
- How
Belgium reacted to
the bombing of the Belgian Consulate
in Morocco, 2003.
See commentary on this
here
and
here.
He sums up Old Europe's approach to defending democracy.
As long as Jews, Americans and other democracies are being attacked,
it's alright with them.
France and Belgium will stay out of it
and believe they are safe.
What does this remind me of? Of course:
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out -
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me -
and there was no one left to speak out for me."
- Pastor Martin Niemoller.
Shame on France, Germany and Belgium
for not supporting the allies.
"Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect.
But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in - to prevent them from
leaving us.
...
You live in a defended island of freedom
...
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free.
When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as
one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe.
When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take
sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.
...
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin."
-
John F. Kennedy, 1963.
The sheer generosity of this speech
- a mere 18 years after Berlin was the centre of genocide and
at war with democracy -
is incredible.
He doesn't treat Germany as a criminal, still on probation.
Instead
he talks of
Germany as the frontier of the free world.
Winston Churchill,
writing of how he felt on
the US joining the war, Dec 1941:
"No American will think it wrong of me if I proclaim that to have the United States at our side
was to me the greatest joy. I could not foretell the course of events.
I do not pretend to have measured accurately the martial might of Japan, but now at this very moment
I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death.
So we had won after all! Yes, after Dunkirk; after the fall of France;
after the horrible episode of Oran; after the threat of invasion, when, apart from the Air and the Navy,
we were an almost unarmed people; after the deadly struggle of the U-boat war
- the first Battle of the Atlantic, gained by a hand's breadth; after seventeen months
of lonely fighting and nineteen months of my responsibility in dire stress, we had won the war.
England would live; Britain would live; the Commonwealth of Nations and the Empire would live.
How long the war would last or in what fashion it would end, no man could tell, nor did I at this moment care.
Once again in our long Island history we should emerge, however mauled or mutiliated, safe and victorious.
We should not be wiped out. Our history would not come to an end. We might not even have to die as individuals.
Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder.
All the rest was merely the proper application of overwhelming force.
...
Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful."
"they may not be interested in war, but war is interested in them".
