It’s 1938 and Iran is Germany

So said former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In some ways, maybe. And his plea that the West, “believe him and stop him”, is precisely the prescription for the world’s future security.

But in a meaningful way, this is most assuredly not 1938.

In 1938, people could say, “Maybe it won’t happen. Maybe Hitler doesn’t mean it. Maybe we can talk him out of it. Maybe we can appease him and find a way to live with the Nazi ideology”. (“Appeasement” wasn’t the same sort of dirty word then, for obvious historical reasons). Their hope that evil wasn’t real was understandable.

So said former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In some ways, maybe. And his plea that the West, “believe him and stop him”, is precisely the prescription for the world’s future security.

But in a meaningful way, this is most assuredly not 1938.

In 1938, people could say, “Maybe it won’t happen. Maybe Hitler doesn’t mean it. Maybe we can talk him out of it. Maybe we can appease him and find a way to live with the Nazi ideology”. (“Appeasement” wasn’t the same sort of dirty word then, for obvious historical reasons). Their hope that evil wasn’t real was understandable.

By 1945, the remnants of the Jewish people were saying, “Never Again,” as in “never again” would Jews allow themselves to be without the means of self-defense and be attacked without fighting back. Others, including American political leaders, expanded the thought to mean the world had some obligation to protect those whom evil would destroy – it was their obligation “never again” to permit a Holocaust.

By 1975, the Cambodian genocide mocked “never again.” Rwanda and Darfur and even 9-11 are proof that the moral clarity produced by a moment of horror fades very quickly.

In 2006, American candidates, particularly but not only Democrats, frequently said, “If I knew then what I know now…” They meant if they had known that toppling Saddam would lead to a difficult, protracted and politically unpopular war, they wouldn’t have voted for it. If they had known that Saddam didn’t have photo op stockpiles of WMD, but only a workable WMD program (including scientists) and was awaiting the end of sanctions to import the means to restart the program, they wouldn’t have voted for it.

On the other hand, now they know about Saddam’s rape rooms; the torture; the gassing of the Kurds; and the 400,000 bodies, including children, in mass graves. If they knew those things then, wouldn’t they have had to vote for the war so as not to further debase the obligation of the powerful to protect the weak?

If in 1938 it was still possible to hope that Hitler didn’t mean it, in 2006 we know better. To believe Ahmadinejad doesn’t mean it, or believe bribes and negotiations can change his mind, or believe the “Palestinian problem” is the key is willful blindness and no defense against evil.

We know now what we didn’t know then. We know evil coupled with weapons of dreadful capability – whether Zyklon B or nuclear bombs – and an indifferent world lead to disaster. We are wiser than the Jews of 1938, wiser than the world of 1938. Only that can avert the disaster that lies ahead.

—————

The Board of Directors of JINSA mourns R. Adm. Sumner Shapiro, USN (ret.), of our Advisory Board, who passed away this week.