2.7.2003 As we head out to war we should not forget :

The following is the wording of the printed statement that Neville Chamberlain waved as he stepped off the plane on 30 September, 1938 after the Munich Conference had ended the day before:

"We, the German Führer and Chancellor, and the British Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the first importance for our two countries and for Europe.
We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again.
We are resolved that the method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of Europe."

Chamberlain read the above statement in front of 10 Downing St. and said:

"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time...
Go home and get a nice quiet sleep."

The rest is history - 

 

" Hitler is a reasonable man who can be negotiated with ............  " 

~  SADDAM Husayn, KIM Chong-il,  Bokassa, Idi Amin, Ossama Bin Laden

........ and communication from you ........                

comments?

A Little Perspective:

Britain had been one of the architects of the Treaty of Versailles, but by the 1930s many people were of the opinion that it was a big mistake. They felt that it had caused terrible resentment in Germany on which Hitler had been able to play in order to achieve power. The government believed that Hitler and Germany had genuine grievances, but that if these could be met ("appeased") Hitler would be satisfied and become less belligerent. This policy of appeasement was the basis of British dealings with Hitler up to 1939. It was based on a number of beliefs:

            War was so horrible it had to be avoided at almost any cost.
            Communism was almost as bad as (some said worse than) Nazism.
            Hitler is a reasonable man who can be negotiated with and whose word is to be trusted.

Afterwards

Chamberlain’s flight to Berchtesgaden was followed by another to Godesberg a week later and then another to Munich on September 29th. At Munich he got an international agreement that Hitler should have the Sudetenland. Chamberlain said it was "Peace in our time". Hitler said he had "No more territorial demands to make in Europe." On October 1st German troops occupied the Sudetenland: Hitler had got what he wanted without firing a shot.

Six months later, in March 1939, German troops took over the rest of Czechoslovakia. Appeasement had failed utterly.

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This conversation is only just beginning  ~  we are on the edge of reality, staring into the face of the unthinkable where young man tattoo their dog tags under their arms so that they will not be forgotten ~

This is the face of Action that I wish were true.  It was, before Christmas.  Now, 2003 it is a different face that haunts us;

There were these two old, old men.  They had fought so hard against one another that they had forgotten how many had died over the 2000 years that the battle had gone on.

These old men had worn many uniforms, sat at many tables, and had spat on the ground to cleanse after many a foreign emissary.

But the sand remain hot, and the children continued to cry, and Death walked amongst them.

And still they fought ........

One thousand years from now, the sands will have blown further into the interior, the faces will have changed,

But the eyes will still stare wild from starvation and despair.

There may be no photographers left to record the moment .......

But, there are these two old, old men.