......."Saddam Hussein ain't Hitler and Iraq sure ain't Germany."........... "but before you rewrite history, you might want to read some first"
FWIW, I didn't do the research. It was reported on a syndicated news report on the radio, so I cannot provide you a copy. However, the report jives with my recollection of history.
Furthermore, I never said Hussein & Hitler were the same. However that news report & my recollection of history prove there are many scary similarities. To me, the scariest is that there are so many nations, politicians, celebrities & certain civic/political groups today that want no action taken to stop Hussien. We already know the horrific consequences when similar pressure allowed Hitler to amass a huge war machine & WMD (WWII versions - nothing close to Hussein's WMD).
Perhaps Iraq's war machine is not a major concern today. However, terrorism is now the new world war & WMD gives it a lethal arsenal to slaughter countless innocent civilians.
BTW, CNBC reported receiving numerous E-mails discussing similar POV's today.
I suggest you check the facts again. I believe you are quite wrong.
A few historical tidbits..........
- Hitler repeatedly violated the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the will of the League of Nations. Hitler ordered the army to be trebled in size, from the 100,000 man Versailles Treaty limit, to 300,000 men by October of 1934. The chief of the navy, was given orders to begin the construction of large warships, way above the maximum size decreed by the Versailles Treaty. The construction of submarines, also forbidden by the Treaty, had already begun (and that was just the beginning).
Hussein has repeatedly violated the conditions of the cease-fire ending the Gulf War & all 16 UN Resolutions. Both Hitler & Hussein rebuilt their military & WMD in violation of these agreements. And, as in the German instance, his violations have been met by a plurality of nations, politicians, celebrities & certain civic/political groups bent on appeasement rather than disarmament.
- Even after Neville Chamberlain's appeasement policy was discredited and Churchill succeeded him as prime minister, Winston Churchill waged a tense struggle with waverers in his war cabinet who, incredibly, leaned toward a settlement with Hitler that would have left Britain sitting out the war. Similarly, Bush is dealing with high-ranking members of his own party, both inside and outside government, who question the wisdom of involvement in Iraq.
- Saddam, like Adolf, participates in diplomatic dialogue to the extent that it buys him time to increase his arsenal. In the end, both never kept their word, but continued to build WMD & their military in direct violation of numerous accords. Then & now there were many voices pressuring the Gov't to accept the BS offered by these despots rather than confront them.
- Hitler used gas to perpetrate genocide upon the Jews & he tortured & murdered political dissidents. Hussein has used poison gas in his relentless persecution of the Kurds in his own nation & tortured political dissidents, then slaughtered them, often along with their families. Amnesty International already shows that human-rights abuses in Iraq are some of the worst in the entire world.
- Hitler used the harsh economic reparations of the Versailles treaty to unify his people behind his cause. Hussein has used the economic sanctions imposed on his nation to rally his people to his side, while using the funds from UN sanctioned oil sales to rebuild his military & WMD, instead of what it was sanctioned for; food, medical supplies, etc., for the Iraqi people.
- Hussein's Baath Party and the Iraqi regime have origins in French fascist ideologies of the 1930's. As did the Nazis, Islamic fundamentalists reject all political and philosophical postulates of modernity while embracing elements of technological modernity (read WMD, Et AL).
- Hussein used the historical borders of his nation as an excuse to invade Kuwait, just as Hitler used the excuse of unifying all Germans as a premise for his occupation of Austria and the Sudetenland. The Munich Accords negotiated by Neville Chamberlain in 1939 brought "peace in our time."...... NOT! Hussein has thumbed his nose at every one of the agreements & UN resolutions that Iraq agreed to adhere to, to bring an end to the hostilities in the Gulf war.
- Churchill was a voice in the wilderness, warning as early as 1936 of the threat that was to precipitate war in 1939. So, too, George Bush has had the problem of not being taken seriously in his warnings of Saddam Hussein's menace. The news in the early days of World War II was not good, and Churchill ruminated regretfully that the war would have been better fought in 1937, when Germany was weaker, than in 1939. Similarly, Bush is of the view that Saddam Hussein is better dealt with earlier, rather than after he has acquired nuclear weapons.
- During the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait & Iraq's wars with Iran, Hussein's military committed numerous atrocities against innocent civilians. Hussein has a long history of atrocities against his own people. Because he was not stopped & WWII averted, Hitler became one of history's worst in the slaughter of innocent civilians.
- The Republican Guard has some similarities with Hitler's SS........ dictators, needing a force they can more readily trust, have also been known to create their own personalized militaries: ........... the Republican Guard of Iraq, the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany, the paramilitary units of Milosevic's Serbia -- with names like the White Eagles, the Gray Wolves, and the Serbian Volunteer Guard ("Arkan's Tigers"). Treated as an elite rival to the traditional military, the very existence of this alternative force, along with its special privileges and elite mystique, all depend upon the future survival of the regime -- a fact that its members are well aware of, energizing their dedication.
- In Iraq, as in Nazi Germany, murder, kidnapping and imprisonment are employed liberally as means of squelching political discontent.
- Hitler had the V-2 among other weapons to terrorize his enemies. Hussein has used the scud, bio & chemical weapons to terrorize his enemies.
- Hitler envisioned "the Final Solution" against the Jews as a sacred mission. The psychopathic Saddam Hussein proclaims holy war.
- Hitler had proclaimed a law stating that the Nazi Party was to be the only political party allowed in Germany in 1933. All non-Nazi organizations were disbanded, including political parties and trade unions. The individual German states were stripped of any autonomous powers they might have had and Nazi officials were installed as state governors. During the years following Hitler's consolidation of power (1934 - 1937) he set about the "Nazification" of Germany and its release from the armament restrictions of the Versailles Treaty. Censorship was extreme and covered all aspects of life including the press, films, radio, books and even art. Trade unions were suppressed and replaced with the centralized "Labour Front", which didn't actually function as a trade union.
Hussein called a major Baathist meeting on July 22, 1979. During the meeting, various family members and other Hussein devotees urged that the party be "cleansed". Hussein then read a list of names and asked that they step outside. Once there, they are taken into custody. A high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Command, the head of the labor unions, the leading Shiite member of the Command, and twenty (20) others are then systematically and personally killed by Hussein and his top party officials. During the next few days, reports indicate that as many as 450 other military officers, deputy prime ministers, and "non-party faithful" were rounded up and killed. This purge insured Hussein's consolidation of power in Iraq. The system of government established by Saddam Hussein only serves the interests of a family that pillages the country’s wealth for its profit while martyring a helpless population. There is no room for human liberties in Iraq. All associations, unions and newspapers are controlled by the government.
And there is so much more..................
As the atrocities, violations of treaties, accords & resolutions are/were exposed to be lies & deceit, there remained, then as now, many nations, politicians, celebrities & certain civic/political groups seeking to avoid a confrontation while both continued to build their military & WMD.
We know what Hitler did & the countless millions slaughtered in WWII because no one stopped him when they had many legitimate legal, moral & ethical reasons to do so. Why? Because there were so many nations, politicians, celebrities & certain civic/political groups speaking out against taking any action to stop Hitler. This allowed him to amass a huge military & arsenal that slaughtered countless millions of people.
We know Hussein's history to date. Hussein has never had a WMD that he didn't use. There are many voices around the globe that want to leave Hussien alone. What will happen if/when he gains the ability to detonate a nuke?
Ö¿Ö |
