Cyprus-Forum.com

[Shipwreck]

We have all heard the adage "people who ignore history are bound to repeat it," right.

Bush doesn't read history and I am not convinced he has a grasp on why he is doing what he is doing, nevertheless the following is interesting reading.


If any of you still feel that this war on terror is a mistake, here is an opinion from an unexpected source. This is not a problem that is going to be easy to solve. It is the struggle to maintain our Western way of life and the very culture that has made it possible. Lose this one, and our
grandchildren will be speaking Arabic, those of them that survive the "conversion".

Look at what has been happening in Europe these last months. For all practical purposes the Islamists won Spain without any effort on their part other than a couple of bombs in public places. Then they burned Paris and started attacks on Holland and Belgium.

Is it not time to get serious - very, very serious!

It's fascinating that this should come out of Europe. Matthias 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 and history will certify its correctness.

EUROPE - THY NAME IS COWARDICE
(Commentary by Mathias Dapfner CEO, Axel Springer, AG)

Some time 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, to 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 perceived 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!

[zan]

Absolutely!!! We should be in there not only using all there resources but telling them how much they should sell it for and to whom. We should be encouraging them to live the christian way and forget about religion


Wait a moment...We are doing that anyway.......Hurrah!!!!!!

[Eric dayi]

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.

I think the above should be changed to:

These days, Europe reminds me of an old Europe of the past who, with shaking hands, again, frantically tries to steal the last pieces of jewelry of weaker countries like a robber breaking into a neighbour's house.

[Get Real!]

How boring it is to read some confused people's opinions about Europe being coward this or gutless that when everyone else on the planet knows very well that the EEC was established with trade in mind which later also evolved into common internal/external policies which incidentally compliment... trade!

Someone please explain where cowardice comes into this…

[devil]

This is ultra-right wing claptrap that has no right in General Chat but should be in a political forum.

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.

Substitute 'Jews' for 'Muslims' and you have something that could have been written by Hitler himself.

This is dangerous anti-Muslim neo-Naziism.

Which country was the first to be seriously targeted by organised extremist Muslim terrorism? It was not France nor even Israel, it was the USA, because of the perception that it was too belligerent against Muslims. The first Gulf war tipped the balance and resulted in the situation we have today after the embassies, USS Cole and 9/11.

Which European countries aided the USA most in the subsequent so-called war against terrorism? Spain and the UK. Which countries have suffered the worst extremist attacks since then? Spain and the UK. Coincidence? Of course not.

We have here a country with many practising Muslims living on the same island, but we have not shown any belligerence towards them: the result is no extremist attacks and this is despite the ethnic divide of the Green Line. The author of this hatred displays a pathological fear of Muslims, yet he is far more likely to cause extremists to be upset, which will stoke his fear even higher. He is in a vicious circle of violence begetting more violence, the poor, blind, fool.

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

This is a total non-sequitur because:
a) Bush & Co invaded Iraq for totally different reasons (weapons of mass destruction, remember?)
b) the Iraq conflict had nothing to do with Muslim extremism; instead it has caused the country to become extremist and violent (another example of violence begetting violence)
c) nothing is mentioned of the unknown number of Iraqis (some put it at >500,000) killed violently since the US belligerence started, so where's the improvement?
d) before the invasion, the Iraqis had a working infrastructure of water and electricity, destroyed in the first days of the belligerence by the "coalition" forces. 4 years later, this has not been restored and the majority of Iraqis are living in a squalor which was unimaginable in Saddam's days (at least those who are too poor to flee the country).
e) certainly, the "oil for food" saga was scandalous but at least Iraq was able to export precious oil. Today, their exports have diminished to a trickle and the economy of the country is is ruins.

Do not believe this neo-Nazi.

[Nikitas]

Shipwreck,

So what is the moral here? Start having a go at people because they are Moslem? Are you nuts or what?

[CopperLine]

Devil was spot on

This is ultra-right wing claptrap

And that claptrap were the words of the CEO of one of the biggest publishers in Europe, which amongst other things, publishes the gutter paper Bild Put simplistically Dapfner is the central Europe's Rupert Murdoch : getting a lecture from Dafner on Islam and Muslims is like getting a lecture from Murdoch on labour rights and editorial freedom.