Lessons from history - Chamberlain and Lying Bullies

When people are asked about Neville Chamberlain, the typical response is that famous picture of him waving a piece of paper and him saying “Peace in our time”.?This is an unfortunate memory as it is only a moment in his career.?Neville Chamberlain had an impressive and honorable career.

Chamberlain was lied to by a bully. Chamberlain thought he was dealing with people he believed were good at their word.?Was he naive??In hindsight, yes. ?But hindsight is 20/20 vision and everyone that criticizes him for this error is being unfair.?Like every politician, Chamberlain faced off against challenges and had to make the best assessments of the information he had.

Why dwell on Chamberlain? Because we’re here again.?

We have a liar of the first order who denied any invasion plans.?Yet he had these plans set for months, perhaps years.?Like Hitler in his day, Putin has great destructive means at his disposal.?Like Hitler, he means to use it.?

History, we are taught, repeats itself.?And if we don’t learn from these lessons, we will be forced to relearn those lessons.?The lesson before us is being relearned and we can watch it in real-time.?A first in history – you can be 10,000 miles away from the battle - yet see it within minutes courtesy of a mobile phone and the Internet. The lesson is brought to you wherever you are.?Except, of course, if you live in Russia where access to this content is harder to get.

Now what?

We are being told by our political leaders that we Westerners must not get involved with the Russians because of the risk of World War 3.?We can arm and support Ukrainians and even share intelligence with them, but ultimately wish them well in defending their homeland.

Really? We are in World War 3! Putin declared it. We cannot avoid it, and the longer we pretend we are able to sit this one out, the worse it will get.?We all know the best way to deal with a bully.?Hit him quickly.

For those that argue the sanctions do exactly that, consider the facts on the ground. Putin is calling the shots and has not cared even for the suffering of the Russian people. This is an age-old Russian behavior. From the Czars on down through communism.?Putin and his coterie will go into a bunker where they will be protected, warm, watered and fed.?Whether 1,000 or 10,000 or more Russians die in Ukraine or in Russia won’t mean a thing - as long as Putin stays in charge.?The parallels with Hitler are clear.

The parallels to the early days of World War 2 are striking.?Hitler first annexed areas with German-speaking and ethnic populations.?Putin went after Crimea, then the two eastern provinces, and now all of Ukraine. The parallel to Sudetenland is there.

Sanctions will not cause Russia and its people to revolt against Putin fast enough.?Each day as we, outside Ukraine, do nothing but watch, Ukrainians are being murdered.?Civilians. Children. Each day means more death and destruction – and gives hope to Russian leaders that they will get away with it again.?Putin has irradiated or poisoned enemies on NATO soil, he has blown up a NATO-administered arms depot ?(and here). This week his military sank a civilian Estonian (NATO member) ship. His experience with the West taught him to double down every time and roll the dice again and again.

Putin is not only a bully of the worst type, but he is also a poker player with a weak hand.?We know it and he knows it. ?He has managed to call the bluff of Western leaders for over 20 years.?You would think there was some learning from this. But no, Western politicians keep kicking the can down the road.?Well, here we are, and that road is at an end.

Think this is too dramatic? Consider this then. Last night Russian troops attacked a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.?They fired their weapons and started a fire that the local fire brigade had to put out. Those locals are Ukrainians.?A shot going into the site could have set off a disaster thought to be six times greater than Chernobyl.?The potential to poison Europe and his own country (and probably much of mankind) did not cause Putin to tell his troops to avoid shooting at the site.?

If that evidence does not suffice, then perhaps you might change your mind when you see the brutal civilian deaths from missiles and cluster bombs.?If you have the stomach for it, follow this Twitter thread. Fair warning, it's not for the faint-hearted. And this will continue until Putin gets what he wants – all of Ukraine.?

If this is allowed, do you think he’ll stop there? Of course not! His track record is impeccable. And he’s at it again today – more lies. I am sure there are people in the West who will grab at this straw.?

Peace in our time? No, it is piece in our time. Pieces of Europe, bit by bit.?Why did the Baltic states rush to help Ukraine ahead of the much larger European nations? Because they know exactly what is going on and they are next of the menu if Putin gets the West to blink again.

It is time to punch the bully on the nose.?Hard.?People smarter than I know how to do this. I am no military and strategy analyst – ut I am sure that sanctions are not enough at this juncture. Civilians are being slaughtered in 2022 like it’s 1940! Have we learned nothing from history? We cannot avoid, indeed cannot afford, not getting involved.

I am old enough to recognize a bully.?I can see who the liar is. My conscience does not allow me to stay silent.?Ukrainians and other Europeans are entitled to a peaceful existence. If Putin isn’t stopped their problems will become yours soon enough. And your children’s.