Defining Appeasement & What it Means For America
May 16th 2008 15:50
ap·pease (uh-peez)
–verb (used with object), -peased, -peas·ing.
1.) To bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.
2.) to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.
3.) To yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
–verb (used with object), -peased, -peas·ing.
1.) To bring to a state of peace, quiet, ease, calm, or contentment; pacify; soothe: to appease an angry king.
2.) to satisfy, allay, or relieve; assuage: The fruit appeased his hunger.
3.) To yield or concede to the belligerent demands of (a nation, group, person, etc.) in a conciliatory effort, sometimes at the expense of justice or other principles.
WWII formed our nations current definition of appeasment as it concerns international politics. European nations felt they could sit down with a man who was murdering people by the thousands on a platform of building his own perfect race of people. Hitlers trickery of building false deals and ultimately invading nations gave this word a negative connotation in the realm of foreign relations.
Certain circles believe there was room for the US to step in early and to work out a deal with Germany in the early stages of Hitlers revolution or that our nations leaders could have worked out a deal with Osama Bin Laden before he built his terrorist network and ultimately bombed and later flew planes into the World Trade Center....
Bolth situations resemble what could have been a peaceful solution in hindsight but with philosophical beliefs rooted in fundamental ideology peace is something that would be impossible to come by. Hitlers goal was world domination, complete destruction of the Jewish population and total control over all other races, people with other sexual preferences and religions. Ideals like this are not something that can be overcome or compromised. Ultimately the right decisions were made to topple a dictator that couldn't have been dealt with any other way.
Islamic Fundamentalism is rooted in loose networks without one specific leader or ideals.
The only thing that draws these groups together is the desire to cleanse their lands of western influence. What began as an effort to cleanse their lands from socialistic foreign invasion soon turned into a jihadistic world wide movement to draw attention to their cause. Western influence would not be nescessary if the affairs of the Middle East did not directly affect United States interest.
As long as our Energy is dependent on the stability of the region and rogue nations threaten violence on nations we are sworn to protect compromise of leaving the region can not be worked out with Islamic Fundamentalists.
These two examples along with groups like Hamas who attack Israel in an effort to drive them out of the region have fueled the belief that simply sitting down and talking to all of our enemies would result in nothing more than emboldening terroristic causes.
While I agree that sitting down with organiztions that have no leader like Al Quaeda or The Taliban would be a fruitless exercise I am also forced to look at the work that was done during the Surge in Iraq. When this exercise first began we were losing soldiers by the dozens from Iraqi militias. It wasn't until our Generals got the permission to sit down with their attackers aned came to a monetary solution that these attacks stopped and our sodiers could focus on The Iranian and Al Quaeda insurgents. While I find many things wrong with the image of this policy and it also changes my view of the Surge I have to take note of Middle Eastern culture as it pertains to war and peace. The success of our presence in this nation is dependent on the already weakened US Dollar as we double pay for our attackers not to attack us and also pay for the price of war at home. The ferocity of these groups has been proven with the drop in deaths since before the Surge and how we can now drop troop numbers. These warlords who are waiting with baited breath for our troops to leave are simply biding time before they can take on the Iranian militas themselves and form their own nation.
If we were able to sit down with War Lords who know no other world besides poverty, bribery and strife I see no problem in trying to sit down with Iran in an effort to stabilize the region. The Sunni/Shiite issues are natures way of balance in the Muslim world and keeps Arab nations from uniting on anythying besides their hatred of occupation.
Appeasement would be allowing Iran to gain Nuclear power or allowing Syria a stake in Iraq or funding them to do so. Our country has done business with rogue figures in history the likes of Omar Quadafi, Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Militias, Osama Bin Laden, Yasir Arafat, The Soviet Union and the Communist Chinese Government. When our Presidents sat down with these nations, individuals or groups their was no preconceived notions or laid agreements. The goal was world stability or getting rid of a greater evil. In today's world we need to find better ways of keeping events like 9-11 from happening again or not falling victim to shotty intelligence and playing games with bullheaded dictators.
Working out global strategies with rogue nations to avoid conflict is not appeasment nor is it appeasment to work within a culture in a language they understand by paying militias built on the principles of bribery to lower death tolls in the Iraqi mission.
A New World without a pervasive evil in the form of a Nation for our country to focus on requires new strategies in global conflicts. The Cold War would have never been won if we didn't sit down with groups we were philosophicaly opposed too. This action had later consequences but lead our nation to the overall mission objective of wiping out communism. Unlike the Cold War where our mission was to arm these groups our goal should be to listen and understand the needs of the region because this understanding will lead to the understanding of the people who are craving everything that Freedom brings in prosperity and individual thought.
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