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Covid lab leak, WW II, Biafra - When the world does nothing until it's too late
How many times have we been down this road? Or to paraphrase Bob Dylan "how many roads must a man walk down? The "civilized" world sits sucking its thumbs until its too late all too often. Examples
The start of the Civil War, when we let Hampton Roads and the outskirts of the nation's capital fall under Confederate control after Virginia's April 17, 1861 secession (long after South Carolina went out in November or December 1860 with Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana following behind and Texas a short time after);
The start of WW II, where the Allies let Germany occupy the Saar Valley and Rhineland, then take Austria, the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia without a murmur, and barely more of a peep with Poland other than paper "declarations of war";
The start of WW II, where the U.S. sat idly by until Pearl Harbor was attacked;
The Holocaust, where the world finger-pointed rather than opening the countries' and Palestine's door (it's only the Jews, remember);
The occupation of Eastern Europe by the Soviet Union, where William Safire, in later episodes, called "coordinated cries of anguish and nicely orchestrated hand-wringing" (link to Safire article);
Nigerian atrocities when Biafra wanted to break away;
The invasion of Ukraine, where, before war broke out, a tripwire in the form of Western troops could have been placed.
These are but a few examples. It is easier to watch grave-faced ministers dive into crisis meetings in Brussels and Paris, to schedule more crisis meeting than to actually do anything. The idea of creating the United Nations in the last two years of WW II was to bar these kind of actors from the "civilized world." What happened, other than U.S. surrender of much of its sovereignty?
I remember in Junior High School wanting to speak to the student government, the General Organization, about wanting in the modest way such an organization of Sixth, Seven and Eighth Graders could, in the form of a small donation. Even then, the G.O. President felt that it was "too controversial." Had Biafra become independent, the West would have had the oil-producing regions at its disposal. However, even then, the constituencies in the northern part of the country, the Hausa tribe, was more politically sexy.
To paraphrase Pete Seeger, "when will we ever learn?
I received this response on my Blogs, from DillonBlanch:
Quote:
It is true that history is littered with missed opportunities and failures to act in the face of crises. There have been many instances where the international community has failed to intervene to prevent conflict or atrocities, or where nations have failed to take action to protect their own interests. However, it is important to remember that these failures are not inevitable, and that progress has been made in some areas. For example, the United Nations has helped to prevent many conflicts and has provided humanitarian assistance to millions of people around the world. The international community has also taken steps to address issues like climate change and human rights abuses. While there is still much work to be done, it is important to acknowledge the progress that has been made and to continue striving for a better future.
I am responding to this comment here because it is one of the few comments it has received. I don't know of many conflicts that the UN has successfully mediated. The UN is one giant boondoggle. To the effect that it does anything, it takes away the sovereignty of free nations. Theoretically it does for totalitarian nations as well, but the likes of Putin, Xi or the Taliban are not really interested in "world opinion" or the niceties of the Charter of Rights. There is no substitute for action when a country departs from civilization; what we get are excuses.
I received this response on my Blogs, from DillonBlanch:
I am responding to this comment here because it is one of the few comments it has received. I don't know of many conflicts that the UN has successfully mediated. The UN is one giant boondoggle. To the effect that it does anything, it takes away the sovereignty of free nations. Theoretically it does for totalitarian nations as well, but the likes of Putin, Xi or the Taliban are not really interested in "world opinion" or the niceties of the Charter of Rights. There is no substitute for action when a country departs from civilization; what we get are excuses.
I agree with you. The UN, as far as I know, has never prevented a conflict, but may have insured we were not victorious in some of them (Korea, Vietnam, etc).
The U.S., by its very existence, has been an arresting force against the Communists and several other totalitarian ideologies, until recently. Recently, those ideologies have undermined and killed our nation, and are in the process of killing our country, as well.
I do disagree with:
Quote:
it is important to remember that these failures are not inevitable,
It is in our nature to fail. Take Y2K, for instance, one that didn't fail. A massive effort was undertaken to insure our computers and networks wouldn't crash. Result? A lot of people promoting the idea that the effort was wasted, since nothing happened.
Contrast this with a failure:
A simple temperature sensor in the axel assembly, developed in 1990 was never deployed, but had it been, it would, almost certainly, have prevented the disaster in E Palestine Ohio, last month.
(the device works a lot like the little pop up devices we used to use to tell us our turkey is done cooking)
They just didn't see the need, since, most of the time, nothing happens.
The result of success in security or safety is that nothing happens, thus insuring that everyone thinks security and safety are a waste of effort, until something happens.
Covid lab leak, WW II, Biafra - When the world does nothing until it's too late
What are you wanting the US to do? Preemptively attack Russia and China?
I did not copy all your talking points but the USA taunted Japan into war via sanctions. We wanted Pearl Harbor to happen so the country would be on board to going to war.
The funny thing is, the Covid pandemic was such an easy thing to put to a close if only people just wore masks!
Like all the countries in Asia who wore masks all the time and still had huge covid problems.
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