NPFR Echoes....

PEACE FOR OUR TIME

by Alistair Cooke, BBC Broadcaster (he is now~95 years old)

Throughout the past fortnight I've listened to everybody involved in or looking on to a monotonous din of words, like a tide crashing and receding on a beach - making a great noise and saying the same thing over and over. And this ordeal triggered a nightmare - a day-mare, if you like. Through the ceaseless tide I heard a voice, a very English voice of an old man - Prime Minister Chamberlain saying: 'I believe it is peace for our time' - a sentence that prompted a huge cheer, first from a listening street crowd and then from the House of Commons and next day from every newspaper in the land. There was a move to urge that Mr. Chamberlain should receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In Parliament there was one unfamiliar old grumbler to growl out: 'I believe we have suffered a total and unmitigated defeat.' He was, in view of the general sentiment, very properly booed down. This scene concluded in the autumn of 1938 the British prime minister's effectual signing away of most of Czechoslovakia to Hitler. The rest of it, within months, Hitler walked in and conquered. 'Oh dear,' said Mr. Chamberlain, thunderstruck. 'He has betrayed my trust.'

During the last fortnight a simple but startling thought occurred to me

Deke come on down:

All due respect to Mr Cooke, who was marvelous as a host of Masterpiece Theatre, but I believe this sentence is the most correct one in his entire reminisce. We _all_ remember Neville Chamberlain- even if not personally, we at least have read our history books. However, not every dictator is Hitler, and not every war is World War II. When Saddam invades Poland- hell, it doesn't have to be Poland, when Saddam next tries to invade ANY OTHER SOVEREIGN COUNTRY, which he hasn't done since 1990 (which I note is a better record than, say, the United States has) then we'll talk. OK?

Mrs Babymash come on down:

Now what was it Frank Zappa said... 'I think democracy is great. In fact, I think democracy is so great that we have to have more of it here, instead of going around exporting it to all these other countries.'

I agree with Frank on this. Sorry, Alistair.

Novis) spewed forth:

Er. Other than Afghanistan, which was justified, that's about it.

Its my belief that Saddam could 'invade' several countries, but not militarily. Imagine for a moment what damage could be done if one of SH's flunkies had, say, a pound of anthrax, smallpox, or botulism in a suitcase under his bed, say in Los Angeles, or San Francisco. Suppose this flunkie managed to steal a plane, climb to 10,00 feet, and slowly dump the contents of the suitcase out the window. Prevailing winds would spread it from California on eastward. I do not have any doubt that SH has the capacity, and the will to do this. His ability and will to do things like this are the underlying reason why support to remove him is weak in the world, IMO. Its the unmentioned gun held to the head of many countrys worldwide. SM must be removed.

Drop bombs, not trou, or lose your ass.

'Deke' expostulated:

Well aid, Alistair.

He's prejudiced. He likes America.

<snips lots of irrelevant WWII 'comparisons'>

The comparison of the present Iraq situation with WWII is complete and utter non-starter.

It falls down on virtually every point.

Lots of 'ifs' there, mate.

The simple fact of the matter is that Saddam was not responsible for 9/11, nor is he involved in Al-Qaida. He is not threatening to invade any country, nor is he capable of doing so. Those are the FACTS, which bear no relation to your dystopic fantasies.

He would be pretty daft to co-operate with Al Qaida, because Al-Qaida want to do away with him too. They despise Saddam because he is a fake Muslim. And the fact that there may be terrorist operatives in Iraq is hardly a revelation. There are many in the USA, Germany, the UK, France, Afghanistan, South East Asia, to name but a few areas.

By the way, if the USA invades Iraq, Bin Laden and his crew will be rubbing there hands. They WANT the USA to invade, because (in there eyes) it proves imperial intent and draws Uncle Sam further into the Middle East where they will be attacked. An invasion will do NOTHING to curb terrorism, it will 'supercharge' the Al Qaida recruitment drive. Those are not my words but the words of the American General who was in charge of the Kosova campaign. Take

Ah... schoolkids taking a day off school to legitimately protest about the war is compared to dictator Saddam greeting children in a photo op. This is getting even more ridiculous.

The CIA and the British. Tony Blair, Bush, the entire Western defence establishment. Common sense.

The CIA and British intelligence services. Put it this way; Saddam is no more involved than Saudi Arabia, Egypt or the US itself. Ahem...

No. The Kuwait situation was dealt with more than a decade ago. Saddam will not step outside his borders now.

By any estimates his capabilities are massively reduced from the Gulf War in 1991. Even when his military powers were at its zenith (after years of support by the West) he was still smashed by the US. The idea that Saddam is a threat to anyone's territory is absurd. A complete non-starter.

If this was true, it would fleeting, and indeed it be influenced by US aggression. Marriages of conveniences are not made in heaven. They are forced by circumstance. After all, faced with imminent invasion, wouldn't any nation do anything to defend itself? The US govt should be able to work that one out.

It's amazing what you can get away with at school now days, no wonder the country is going to pot.