from another poster
https://terb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=127706
Subject: A German Editorial Europe, thy name is
Cowardice A GERMAN EDITORIAL
If any of you still feel that this war on terror is a
mistake, here is an opinion from an unexpected source.
It`s fascinating that this should come out of Europe.
Mathias Dapfner, Chief Executive of the huge German
publisher Axel Springer AG, has written a blistering
attack in DIE WELT, Germany`s largest daily paper,
against the timid reaction of Europe in the face of
the Islamic threat.
This is a must-read by all Americans. History may well
certify its correctness.
EUROPE - THY NAME IS COWARDICE
(Commentary by Mathias Dapfner CEO, Axel Springer, AG)
A few days ago Henry Broder wrote in Welt am Sonntag,
"Europe - your family name is appeasement." It`s a
phrase you can`t get out of your head because it`s so
terribly true.
Appeasement cost millions of Jews and non-Jews their
lives, as England and France, allies at the time,
negotiated and hesitated too long before they noticed
that Hitler had to be fought, not bound to toothless
agreements.
Appeasement legitimized and stabilized Communism in
the Soviet Union, then East Germany, then all the rest
of Eastern Europe, where for decades, inhuman,
suppressive, murderous governments were glorified as
the ideologically correct alternative to all other
possibilities.
Appeasement crippled Europe when genocide ran rampant
in Kosovo, and even though we had absolute proof of
ongoing mass-murder, we Europeans debated and debated
and debated, and were still debating when finally the
Americans had to come from halfway around the world,
into Europe yet again, and do our work for us.
Rather than protecting democracy in the Middle East,
European Appeasement, camouflaged behind the fuzzy
word "equidistance," now countenances suicide bombings
in Israel by fundamentalist Palestinians.
Appeasement generates a mentality that allows Europe
to ignore nearly 500,000 victims of Saddam`s torture
and murder machinery and, motivated by the
self-righteousness of the peace movement, has the gall
to issue bad grades to George Bush... Even as it is
uncovered that the loudest critics of the American
action in Iraq made illicit billions, no, TENS of
billions, in the corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program.
And now we are faced with a particularly grotesque
form of appeasement. How is Germany reacting to the
escalating violence by Islamic Fundamentalists in
Holland and elsewhere? By suggesting that we really
should have a "Muslim Holiday" in Germany?
I wish I were joking, but I am not. A substantial
fraction of our (German) Government, and if the polls
are to be believed, the German people, actually
believe that creating an Official State "Muslim
Holiday" will somehow spare us from the wrath of the
fanatical Islamists. One cannot help but recall
Britain`s Neville Chamberlain waving the laughable
treaty signed by Adolph Hitler and declaring European
"Peace in our time".
What else has to happen before the European public and
its political leadership get it? There is a sort of
crusade underway, an especially perfidious crusade
consisting of systematic attacks by fanatic Muslims,
focused on civilians, directed against our free, open
Western societies, and intent upon Western
Civilization`s utter destruction.
It is a conflict that will most likely last longer
than any of the great military conflicts of the last
century - a conflict conducted by an enemy that cannot
be tamed by "tolerance" and "accommodation" but is
actually spurred on by such gestures, which have
proven to be, and will always be taken by the
Islamists for signs of weakness. Only two recent
American Presidents had the courage needed for
Anti-appeasement: Reagan and Bush.
His American critics may quibble over the details, but
we Europeans know the truth. We saw it first hand:
Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War, freeing half of the
German people from nearly 50 years of terror and
virtual slavery. And Bush, supported only by the
Social Democrat Blair, acting on moral conviction,
recognized the danger in the Islamic War against
Democracy. His place in history will have to be
evaluated after a number of years have passed.
In the meantime, Europe sits back with charismatic
self-confidence in the multicultural corner, instead
of defending liberal society`s values and being an
attractive center of power on the same playing field
as the true great powers, America and China.
On the contrary - we Europeans present ourselves, in
contrast to those "arrogant Americans", as the World
Champions of "tolerance", which even (Germany`s
Interior Minister) Otto Schily justifiably criticizes.
Why? Because we`re so moral? I fear it`s more
because we`re so materialistic, so devoid of a moral
compass.
For his policies, Bush risks the fall of the dollar,
huge amounts of additional national debt, and a
massive and persistent burden on the American economy
- because unlike almost all of Europe, Bush realizes
what is at stake - literally everything.
While we criticize the "capitalistic robber barons" of
America because they seem too sure of their
priorities, we timidly defend our Social Welfare
systems. Stay out of it! It could get expensive!
We`d rather discuss reducing our 35-hour workweek or
our dental coverage, or our 4 weeks of paid
vacation... Or listen to TV pastors preach about the
need to "reach out to terrorists. To understand and
forgive".
These days, Europe reminds me of an old woman who,
with shaking hands, frantically hides her last pieces
of jewelry when she notices a robber breaking into a
neighbor`s house.
Appeasement?
Europe, thy name is Cowardice
