"IT IS US TODAY.... TOMORROW IT WILL BE YOU"

In October 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia under Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini. A European aggressor nation (Italy) invading a sovereign African country (Ethiopia). On June 30, 1936 the leader of Ethiopian, Emperor Haile Selassie, appealed to the League of Nations in Geneva to intervene (the predecessor to the United Nations). The final words of his speech at the League of Nations were “It is us today, tomorrow it will be you.”?A prophetic warning to the nations who were not standing up to Italy,?but instead were appeasing the aggressor.?For his heroic defense of his nation on the international stage, Selassie was named "Time Person of the?Year" in 1936 (that is his photo above), but it didn’t help.?The world did not respond and allowed the aggressor, Italy, to go unpunished.?

Appeasing an?aggressor sends a signal to other aggressors. Hitler was watching the world ignore the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. And he learned.??

Two years later Hitler’s German forces marched in, and annexed, Czechoslovakia in 1938.?Again, the world?appeased the aggressor, Germany, who was allied with Italy at that time. Never?satisfied, Hitler wanted more and attacked Poland on September 1, 1939.?The world was thrust into chaos, into a second World War that claimed over 50 million lives.?The?invasion of Poland in 1939 started the kinetic war in Europe that lasted six years.?However the seeds were sown in Ethiopia in 1935, when the world allowed an?aggressor nation to conquer another.?

Great Britain’s Prime Minister Churchill, who finally led the effort to stand up to Hitler, later said?“an?appeaser?is someone who feeds the crocodile….hoping they’ll be?eaten last”.?

Russia is now an aggressor nation. Putin, like Hitler, learned each time he took aggressive that the international community would appease him. Put took aggressive action in Georgia, Crimea and Belarus, that the world would not respond. The world appeased him. Putin also has the most nuclear weapons of any aggressor nation in history. He has now escalated the alert?level of his nuclear forces,?which is a 'Cuban Missile-like' bluff.... or reality. Putin has been a dictator for 22 years and isolated with sycophants. He's been isolated for decades, and further isolated by COVID. His state of mind is in question. ?The world cannot appease?this?dictator any longer.?His military is being used to conquer?another sovereign nation.?

Putin likely thought he would take Ukraine quickly and the world would not respond. He did not anticipate Zalenskyy. And as the world watches, a new brave leader has shown himself to be the beacon of freedom.?President Zalenskyy, the?leader of Ukraine, is staying with his?people, picking up a weapon,?and saying?“Follow me”.?It’s still early in 2022, but right now, this man, like Haile Selassie, should be the "Time person of?the Year" for 2022.?Haile Selassie did not have the 24 hour news cycle, main stream media, social media,?proliferation of cell phones and?cheap band?width that allows all information to flow freely.?Zalenskyy?has these?capabilities and he is very skilled as a leader at utilizing them.?

Putin’s?legacy will be that he?joined the?European aggressor dictators of Mussolini and Hitler as the three aggressors in Europe in the past 80 years.?Zalenskyy’s will be determined in the next few hours, but?for?now, at this?minute and hour, he appears to be the Churchill of our?modern times.? His leadership is buying time, for the international community to rally to stop the aggressor. The international community has a choice, let's hope it is not appeasement. The world needs to stop Putin.

Well done President Zalenskyy.?We should all follow his leadership and the people of the world, and the?politicians of the world, should do?everything possible to support Ukraine and not?appease Putin.??

Do not feed the crocodile, or tomorrow it will be you.?