A Reminder About Appeasing Our Enemies: Douglas MacArthur

Sunday, January 10th at 12:43PM EST

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Recommenders: larueladue (Diary), izoneguy (Diary)

I ran across this today as I was preparing my son’s history reading for the week.

It is painfully apparent that history, ignored, is a poor teacher. History, as rewritten by democrats and promulgated in the schools and media, is a dangerous teacher.

From MacArthur’s farewell speech to Congress, April 19, 1951.

“I address you with neither rancor nor bitterness in the fading twilight of life, with but one purpose in mind: to serve my country. The issues are global and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector, oblivious to those of another, is but to court disaster for the whole. While Asia is commonly referred to as the Gateway to Europe, it is no less true that Europe is the Gateway to Asia, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other. There are those who claim our strength is inadequate to protect on both fronts, that we cannot divide our effort. I can think of no greater expression of defeatism. If a potential enemy can divide his strength on two fronts, it is for us to counter his effort. [Al Queda is active on all fronts around the globe. The current administration in America not only won't counter Al Queda's efforts, they are knowingly making it easier for terrorists.] The Communist threat is a global one. Its successful advance in one sector threatens the destruction of every other sector. You cannot appease or otherwise surrender to communism [Islamic terrorism] in Asia [America] without simultaneously undermining our efforts to halt its advance in Europe [around the world].

I called for reinforcements but was informed that reinforcements were not available. [General McChrystal fared as well with the Obama regime.] I made clear that if not permitted to destroy the enemy build-up bases north of the Yalu, if not permitted to utilize the friendly Chinese force of some 600,000 men on Formosa, if not permitted to blockade the China coast to prevent the Chinese Reds from getting succor from without, and if there were to be no hope of major reinforcements, the position of the command from the military standpoint forbade victory.” [Obamreceived a similar report from McChrystal, and deliberately ignored it.]

“But once war is forced upon us, there is no other alternative than to apply every available means to bring it to a swift end.

War’s very object is victory, no prolonged indecision. [Obama despises victory and uses indecision to thwart it at every turn.]

In war there is no substitute for victory.”

“There are some who, for varying reasons, would appease Red China. [Or Islamic terrorists or Communists world-wide.] They are blind to history’s clear lesson, for history teaches with unmistakable emphasis that appeasement but begets new and bloodier war. It points to no single instance where this end has justified that means, where appeasement has led to more than a sham peace. Like blackmail, it lays the basis for new and successively greater demands until, as in blackmail, violence becomes the only other alternative.

“Why,” my soldiers ask of me, “surrender military advantages to an enemy in the field?” I could not answer.”

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Jihadists groom children in the UK under 10

izoneguy (Diary) Sunday, January 10th at 1:03PM EST (link)

Jihadists groom children in the UK under 10

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982399.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084

Police have identified children as young as seven being groomed for terrorism, with some expressing a wish to become suicide bombers.

Up to 10 primary school pupils, aged between seven and 10, have been placed on a government outreach programme for individuals considered at risk of being radicalised and turning to violence.

Some have taken inspiration from jihadi websites or after viewing extremist material in Islamic bookshops.

One child was referred to the programme by his teacher after writing on a school book: “I want to be a suicide bomber.”

Hitler’s Boy Soldiers

http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/hitleryouth/hj-boy-soldiers.htm

On September 1, 1939, Hitler’s armies invaded Poland. Six years of war would follow with the full participation of the Hitler Youth eventually down to the youngest child.

At the onset of war, the Hitler Youth totaled 8.8 million. But the war brought immediate, drastic changes as over a million Hitler Youth leaders of draft age and regional adult leaders were immediately called up into the army.

This resulted in a severe shortage of local and district leaders. The problem was resolved by lowering the age of local Hitler Youth leaders to 16 and 17. The average age had been 24. These 16 and 17-year-olds would now be responsible for as many as 500 or more boys. Another big change was the elimination of the strict division between the Jungvolk (boys 10 to 14) and the actual HJ (Hitler Youth 14 to 18).

The HJ organization had sprawled into a giant bureaucracy with 14 different regional offices. It was now cut back to just six main offices. Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, not wanting to be left out of the war, received Hitler’s permission to volunteer for the army. He underwent training and received a rapid rise through the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in just a few months. He was replaced by Artur Axmann, who had headed the HJ Social Affairs Department and had been involved with the organization since the late 1920s.

The war returned a sense of urgency to the daily activities of the Hitler Youth. The organization had experienced a bit of a slump after 1936 when participation had become mandatory. For many young Germans, HJ meetings and activities had simply become part of the weekly routine. The original mission of the HJ had been to bring Hitler to power. Victory in the war became the new mission and HJ boys enthusiastically sprang into action, serving first as special postmen delivering draft notices in their neighborhoods along with monthly ration cards. They also went door to door collecting scrap metals and other needed war materials.

The shocking fanaticism and reckless bravery of the Hitler Youth in battle astounded the British and Canadians who fought them. They sprang like wolves against tanks. If they were encircled or outnumbered, they fought-on until there were no survivors. Young boys, years away from their first shave, had to be shot dead by Allied soldiers, old enough, in some cases, to be their fathers. The “fearless, cruel, domineering” youth Hitler had wanted had now come of age and arrived on the battlefield with utter contempt for danger. This soon resulted in the near destruction of the entire division.

In the Ruhr area of Germany, HJ boys practiced guerilla warfare against invading U.S. troops. In the forests, the boys stayed hidden until the tanks passed, waiting for the foot soldiers. They would then spring up, shoot at them and throw grenades, inflicting heavy causalities, then dash away and disappear back into the forest. The Americans retaliated with air-attacks and leveled several villages in the surrounding area.

If the boys happened to get cornered by American patrols, they often battled until the last boy was killed rather than surrender. And the boys kept getting younger. American troops reported capturing armed 8-year-olds at Aachen and knocking out artillery units operated entirely by boys aged twelve and under. Girls were also used now, operating 88mm anti-aircraft guns alongside boys.

At the Pichelsdorf bridges, 5,000 boys, wearing man-sized uniforms several sizes too big and helmets that flopped around on their heads, stood by with rifles and Panzerfausts, ready to oppose the Soviet Army. Within five days of battle, 4,500 had been killed or wounded. In other parts of Berlin, HJ boys met similar fates. Many committed suicide rather than be taken alive by the Red Army.

All over the city, every able bodied male was pressed into the desperate final struggle. Anyone fleeing or refusing to go to the front lines was shot or hanged on the spot by SS executioners roaming the streets hunting for deserters.

We are watching history being repeated……

The point cannot be made often enough: Modern liberalism, as embodied in the Obama presidency, is the defender of the status quo. And the status quo is a road to economic ruin. Political forces cannot redistribute the wealth that the economic system does not produce.