Who Are The Enemies of Freedom?

Today there are demonstrations going on claiming to favor peace over war. I'm sure that Neville Chamberlain thought he had achieved peace when he negotiated the Munich agreement, granting the Sudetenland, until then a part of Czechoslovakia, to Nazi Germany. He had made an agreement with a dictator, accepting a tissue of lies that allowed him to go to sleep believing that he had arranged safety for the citizens of his country by bargaining away the freedom of others, namely the Czech citizens of the Sudetenland. Earlier England and the European allies had allowed incremental erosion of previous agreements. In the Treaty of Versailles, which was executed after the close of hostilities of World War One, Germany was ordered to disarm, and specific numbers of men under arms and military equipment were prescribed. Over the next two decades the European powers allowed the disarmament to slide, and as the Treaty of Versailles was increasingly ignored, Germany acquired weapons of mass destruction, like tanks and submarines, and planned revenge against those who had foisted the insulting Treaty of Versailles on them.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? We are facing the same thing today with Iraq. After the war, Saddam was ordered to disarm, but as time has gone by the European powers have allowed their resolve to slip, again hoping that the dictator will stay within his borders. In fact they seem to believe that a stronger dictator will be a better trading partner, and resist American attempts to enforce the cease fire and disarmament agreements. Do we have to wait for another Blitzkrieg of Poland (read Israel)? If we stand down, and withdraw our troops from the Middle East, and allow the dictator to become stronger, what else should we expect? No force can stand at highest alert forever. In fact, if we do not attack within the next few weeks, we will have to wait at least another seven or eight months before an attack becomes possible again, considering the climate in Iraq. Can we afford to wait?

Those who want peace includes, not only those who stand with our enemies today, but also most of those who favor attack. Peace is not won by Munich agreements, and the legacy of Versailles is that no agreement will stand against a determined dictator with the resources of a nation behind him, unless the forces of freedom stand strong, and take action before it becomes too late. How many have to die before those who claim to stand for peace realize this? The eighteen nations who stand with us today must enforce the disarmament of Iraq now. The resulting free people of Iraq will thank us. Our homegrown "peace" movement will win, just not the way they believe is the right way. The time to attack is now, before events overtake our opportunity. Once the dictator has a nuclear weapon, he will surely use it. How many more must die for "peace?"