CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY FEBRUARY 9, 2022
RUSSIA’S VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS RAISED THE PROSPECT OF NUCLEAR WAR WITH THE WEST OVER UKRAINE. PUTIN CLAIMS THE WEST IS PROVOKING RUSSIA.
DOES THIS REMIND ANYONE OF ADOLF HITLER’S CLAIMS OVER CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND THE SUDENTENLAND IN THE LATE 1930S? AND WHY DO YOU THINK HITLER THEN AND PUTIN NOW WERE AND ARE EMBOLDENED? IN HITLER’S CASE, HE SAW THE RELUCTANCE OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE AND THE U.S. TO BECOME INVOLVED IN ANOTHER WORLD WAR FOLLOWING WORLD WAR ONE. THE WEST WAS IN COMPLETE DENIAL OF HITLER’S MILITARY BUILDUP IN VIOLATION OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES. WHEN PRIME MINISTER NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN REACHED A MEANINGLESS DEAL IN MUNICH AND DECLARED HE HAD ACHIEVED “PEACE IN OUR TIME,” HITLER BELIEVED HE COULD MOVE AHEAD WITH IMPUGNITY.
AND NOW THE DICTATOR PUTIN, WHO KNOWS HISTORY, SEES A WEAK AMERICAN PRESIDENT AND A RELUCTANT EUROPE. CHINA IS WATCHING, TOO, AND INCREASINGLY THINKS IT MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET AWAY WITH INVADING TAIWAN AND SWALLOW ANOTHER ISLAND OF FREEDOM AFTER HONG KONG.
PEACE IS ACHIEVED THROUGH STRENGTH AS RONALD REAGAN USED TO SAY. ITS OPPOSITE IS ALSO TRUE. THERE IS WAR WHEN THERE IS WEAKNESS. I’M CAL THOMAS.
History is bound to repeat itself when a people fail to learn from the past. And how can they learn from the past when they neglect to read and study history?
One of the scarier aspects of something like the on-going Putin/US poker bluff game, is how quickly things can get out of control. The Cuban missile crisis is one such event. I served in the military during that crisis. As Mr. Thomas has rightly observed, we have a perceived weak president and a Russian leader not afraid to call his bluff. I pray we will never see an event like Cuba occur again – it was close – very close.