I truly regret not having Mr. Dapfner’s
email address, as I would be honored to applaud him for his honesty. The saddest
part is that a growing number of Americans are making the same myopic mistake Europe is. Many foreign politicians have said that Americans
lack the disciplined will to sustain a cause through to its logical end, and we
are in danger of again proving those critics right.
To be sure, I feel for the American families
with loved ones in harm’s way this Christmas. I mourn for those who will
never come home as well. Those are indeed high prices, but people much smarter
than I am have always warned Americans that liberty does not come cheaply. People
have forgotten that the terror threat was never limited to Al Qaeda or even “muslin
fundamentalists.” The threat is any individual or group prepared to wage
unconventional warfare in order to force their will on a democracy. How many
more 9/11s must we endure to fully grasp that new reality? Yes, 9/11 was an Al
Qaeda production, but other groups would have loved to have been guilty. Al
Qaeda simply was quicker at the job.
The reality that gives rise to these
organizations of hatred is not going away on its own. Nor is it as simple as “haves
vs. have-nots.” Al Qaeda certainly disproves that. The conflict is more about
freedom, and those who perceive it as a threat. Modern communication has the
rest of the world becoming increasingly aware of life styles in the democracies,
and some groups are terrified that such awareness could eventually erode their power
over their people. Islam itself has nothing against free thinking, but some who
hide their bully tactics behind its banner absolutely do! Those people are essentially
thugs, and their terrorism will continue as long as they are able to generate rabid
followers from people who feel powerless. Bingo! That’s why injecting a
greater degree of democracy into the Arab world became a necessity.
Of course, democratic ideals have not come
naturally to Arabia, possibly because the determination
of how Islam should be applied has remain under the control of relatively few
males. In any case, America must
recognize and accept that making the Middle East
more open-minded and democratic is nothing like warming dinner up in the
microwave. This is a venture requiring vast amounts of determination and commitment,
items that we individually seem so short on nowadays. I recall that President
Bush’s initial speeches after 9/11 made clear that a war against terrorism
could not be won in months or years, and I’m sorry that he allowed his
handlers to back him away from that tough truth for the sake of political
expediency. Changing the way most of the Arab region views the West will take
at least a generation of slow but steady effort to introduce new ideas. Sadly,
some of that effort has to be defeating those who use violence to keep their own
people powerless.
From: David A. Kemp
[mailto:Kempda@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2005
9:33 AM
To:
Alexander, Dan; Anderson, Gary & Judy; apRoberts, Ruth; Austin, John;
Bolick, Robert; Browndyke, Larry; Carruth, Lenox; Catlin, Bill; Curtis,
LaQuita; Gammage, Judie; Henderson, Walt; Hudspeth, Bob; Kemp, Constance;
Macaulay, Mike; McClendon, Joe; Merkey, Rowena C.; Noack, Ann; Peterson, Beth
& Harold; Porter, Albert; Rivers, Jim; Rogers, Jim; Samford, Jeff; Simmons,
Walt; Smith, Kirk W.; Young, Linda & Jim
Subject: Europe,
Thy Name Is Cowardice
Mathias Dapfner,
Chief Executive of the huge German
publisher Axel Springer AG, has written a blistering
attack in DIE WELT, Germany’s
largest daily newspaper,
against the timid reaction of Europe in the
face of
the Islamic threat. It’s well worth reading for any American.EUROPE, THY NAME IS COWARDICE (Commentary by Mathias
Dapfner, CEO, Axel Springer, AG)Recently Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag,
"Europe, your family name is
appeasement." It’s a
phrase you can’t get out of your head because it’s so
terribly true.Appeasement cost millions of Jews and
non-Jews their
lives as England and France, allies at the time,
negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed
that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless
agreements.Appeasement legitimized and stabilized
Communism in
the Soviet Union, then East Germany,
then all the rest
of Eastern Europe where for decades, inhuman,
suppressive, and murderous governments were glorified
as the ideologically correct alternative to all other
possibilities.Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide
ran rampant
in Kosovo, and even though we had absolute proof of
ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated
and debated, and were still debating when finally the
Americans had to come from halfway around the world,
into Europe yet again, and do our work for us.
Rather than protecting democracy in the
Middle East,
European appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy
word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings
in Israel
by fundamentalist Palestinians.Appeasement generates a mentality that
allows Europe
to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam’s torture
and murder machinery and, motivated by the
self-righteousness of the peace-movement, has the gall
to issue bad grades to George Bush–even as it is
uncovered that the loudest critics of the American
action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of
billions, in the corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program.And now we are faced with a particularly
grotesque
form of appeasement: how is Germany
reacting to the
escalating violence by Islamic fundamentalists in
Holland and
elsewhere? By suggesting that we really
should have a "Muslim Holiday" in Germany! I wish I
were joking, but I am not. A substantial fraction of
our (German) Government, and if the polls are to be
believed, the German people, actually believe that
creating an Official State "Muslim Holiday" will
somehow spare us from the wrath of the fanatical
Islamists.One cannot help but recall Britain’s
Neville
Chamberlain waving the laughable treaty signed by
Adolf Hitler, and declaring European "Peace in our
time."What else has to happen before the European
public and
its political leadership get it? There is a sort of
crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade
consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims,
focused on civilians, directed against our free, open
Western societies, and intent upon Western
Civilization’s utter destruction.It is a conflict that will most likely last
longer
than any of the great military conflicts of the last
century–a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot
be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is
actually spurred on by such gestures, which have
proven to be, and will always be taken by the
Islamists for, signs of weakness.Only two recent American Presidents had the
courage
needed for anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush.His American critics may quibble over the
details, but
we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand:
Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the
German people from nearly 50 years of terror and
virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the
Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction,
recognized the danger in the Islamic War against
democracy. His place in history will have to be
evaluated after a number of years have passed.In the meantime, Europe sits back with smug
self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead
of defending liberal society’s values and being a
significant center of power on the same playing field
as the true great powers, America
and China.
On the contrary, we Europeans present
ourselves, in
contrast to those "arrogant Americans," as the World
Champions of "tolerance," which even (Germany’s
Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes.
Why? Because we’re so moral? I fear it’s more because
we’re so materialistic, so devoid of a moral compass.For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the
dollar,
huge amounts of additional national debt, and a
massive and persistent burden on the American economy,
because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush
realizes
what is at stake: literally everything.While we criticize the "capitalistic
robber barons" of
America
because they seem too sure of their
priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare
systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive! We’d
rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or our
dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid vacation. Or
listen to TV pastors preach about the need to "reach
out" to terrorists. To "understand and forgive."These days, Europe
reminds me of an old woman who,
with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces
of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a
neighbor’s house.Appeasement? Europe,
thy name is Cowardice.
Disability in America 