Veterans’ Day is November 11 because on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 11AM (Paris time, when this is being posted) on November 11, 1918, the Armistice between the Allies and the Central Powers took effect. World War I had been more peculiar, unnecessary and pointless than most wars, but from it comes many lingering features of the American and international political landscape: the messianic idea of “making the world safe for democracy,” even for people who don’t value democracy or want it; the powder keg of a web of global alliances that can be touched off into a worldwide conflagration by a minor incident; the repeated recourse to failed analyses and refusal to reexamine them, no matter how often and spectacularly they fail; the stigmatizing of all opposition and even outright restrictions on the freedom of speech to crush dissent; and more.
Yet in other ways the military landscape of World War I was profoundly different from that of conflicts today. During the Christmas truce of 1914, the British, French and German soldiers came out of their trenches and exchanged Christmas greetings. In some places they even exchanged gifts and played games together. They respected each other as human beings. They recognized that they shared the same values. Yet this was infrequently repeated in subsequent Christmases; the bitterness of war overwhelmed any impulse to see the opponent as a person worthy of respect.
In today’s conflict with Islamic jihad, the jihadis likewise do not respect their non-Muslim foes. The Infidels are “the most vile of created beings” (Qur’an 98:6) while the Muslims are “the best of peoples” (Qur’an 3:110). There is no sense of shared values. Yet many of the leaders and opinion makers among the non-Muslims do not understand or accept this. They continue to believe that gestures of good will will be appreciated and reciprocated. They continue to think that their own careful displays of respect for the values and principles of the jihadis will be received with something other than amused contempt. They continue to send their young soldiers into the Afghanistan meat grinder, imagining that they’re winning hearts and minds by forcing our soldiers to train their “allies” who, in appallingly increasing numbers, turn on them and murder them as soon as they have the opportunity.
Meanwhile, the same leaders and opinion makers insist that groups holding the same goal held by those who have declared their hatred for, and indeed their state of war against, the United States, but who pursue this goal by non-military means, are not our enemies at all, but our friends and allies, who should be encouraged in every way and afforded access to the corridors of power. Some, but not all, of them may dimly realize that in doing so they’re endangering Americans and America itself, but by the time they see this clearly, it may well be too late. For those groups seeking the same goal as that of the jihadis — the submission of Infidel states to the rule of Islamic law — have, with willing help from the establishment media, stigmatized all resistance to this agenda as “racism,” “bigotry” and “Islamophobia.” Few are willing to brave the stigma, and those who do are widely derided and disregarded: while the jihadis and Islamic supremacists advance ever more aggressively and confidently, those who sound the alarm are increasingly unheeded.
As a result, numerous Constitutional and societal principles, including that of equality of rights for all, with no special privileges for individual groups, and the freedom of speech, are being assailed by forces that are increasingly assertive and confident. The establishment media, government, and law enforcement do not resist those forces, but aid and abet them.
The record of the resistance to jihad since 2001 is a record of failures caused by false analyses enacted as policy, and that is worse than ever. Still, the last chapter hasn’t yet been written. As long as free people still draw air, there is hope. But only if we don’t give up now, but work all the harder, and solidify our determination to resist tyranny.
Today, then, we should remember and be grateful to those who gave their lives to secure and protect these freedoms for us, and resolve not to throw away without a fight those freedoms for which they died. We should remember that if we are not willing to give our own lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to protect the unalienable rights enumerated at the founding of this Republic, we will most assuredly lose both them and the Republic itself — lose them for ourselves and for our children.
And we are far closer to that than most people realize.
Let us never shrink from the task before us: the great struggle to defend human rights, human dignity, and freedom from oppression and injustice — particularly the oppression and injustice, and assaults to human dignity that are enshrined in the Islamic law (Sharia) that is coming, step-by-step, steadily and apparently inexorably, to an ever more ignorant and indifferent West.
Happy Veterans Day.
Frank says
Its 100 years since the end of the Ottoman empire. They are back.
Michael Copeland says
Important warnings, well expressed with fine words. Thank you.
We must all try to influence others, particularly our representatives if we can, however we can.
gravenimage says
+1
WPM says
Islam is not a race ,it is a dangerous idolatry that effects black, white , and Asian people. If Europe let only Hindis ,Christians , Jews , Buddhist ,atheist ,be they black, brown, white or Asian people they would not have the problems they face today. The Moslem from eastern Europe ( the whites) is just as potentially dangerous as the Moslem from the Philippines ,or Africa (the darkest). Islam does not follow the civilized laws or rules that govern modern society, Islam does not let others outside of their faith live in peace.
Indiana Tom says
My Grandfather was Forward Observer for Artillery in WW1. He still had coughing fits from the gas he partially inhaled during the war. clear up until his death in 1972. It was a gory war and more atrocities occurred with prisoners than most would think. He saw most of what was in the book Company K. The book All Quiet on the Western Front was not off the mark either. Both of the guys who wrote these books were actually on the frontline in WW1.
https://www.amazon.com/Company-K-Library-Alabama-Classics/dp/0817304800
My own views on WW1 is can be summed up by the title of the book Crowns in the Gutter.
Most alternate history scenarios show the world being better off with out WW1 being fought or everyone signing a peace treaty with the existing German and Austrian Governments still intact and no Versailles Treaty.
Indiana Tom says
I forgot to add that the fall of the Russian Government and the rise of the Bolsheviks was a pretty big downer as well.
Indiana Tom says
As a further note; the liberation of Saudi Arabia from the Ottoman Turks opened the bottle for the genie called Wahabanism to spread throughout Islam. The Ottomans were trying to keep a lid on the Saudis and Wahhabism, but that went away after WW1.Most observers really never notice that Islam became much more radical as the Saudis gained “freedom” and petro power. Not that islam was ever really great, but it has become much worse during the late 20th and 21st centuries with the rise of the Sausis and their “missionaries” to spread the fundamentalist message of Islam to less observant Muslim nations,
Of course this also coincides with declining nationalism and religion in the West, and the rise to PC politics and global group think.
RonaldB says
That’s a good point about the Saudis, although let’s keep in mind that the Muslim Brotherhood arose independently in Egypt.
I think a lot of the energy driving the entry into World War I was the desire of Germany to expand it’s colonial empire, and the desire of Britain and France, already colonial powers, to keep Germany bottled up. Britain had just gobbled up South Africa and the Orange State, primarily through the tactic of starving 35,000 or so Boer civilians to death in concentration camps.
The whole crazy network of alliances and commitments threw the continent into a war that was far easier to get into than to get out of. Any single nation could make enough bad decisions to get into a conflict, but with the the nexus of alliances, peace had to be a consensus matter.
So, now NATO serves as the alliance tripwire, sending us off merrily into war if Turkey gets into conflict with Russia, or Russia gets into a dispute with Estonia.
Let me say I appreciate Robert’s forthrightness very much in expressing the view that World War I was particularly pointless.
The European says
You’re touching on a subject which merits further thought. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the Hapsbourgs had an ally in the Near East: Ottoman Turkey, an empire dubbed the “sick man of Europe” that still beld large territories in Palestine, Syria, Iraq, and the Arabian Peninusula. These territories were deserts, but under thei soil a most crucial commodity had been discovered:oil, a source of energy all Western powers coveted. The German Empire,profiting from its ties with the Ottomans whose army had been modernized by Germans, built the Bagdad railway and were able to exploit and to control the oilfields. But the British Empire, being cut off from a major resource deemed necessary to the functioning of the Empire, and watching it being exploited by their German rival,, thought war to be the only way to cope with that disadvantage. At that time, Germany was Europe’s industrial powerhouse and its trade balance exceeded that of Great Britain. The English were simply afraid of being outstripped by the Germans and of losing their empire, if Germany continued to prosper. So, they stirred up unrest among the Arabs, sent secret agents like Lawrence of Arabia to incite Arabs against Ottoman Turks, aided wahabism, and unleashed jihad. Kaiser Wilhelm II did pretty much the same, but he tried to persuade the Ottomans to wage a “holy war” against the French and the English. Almost all major powers involved in WWI endeavoured to use Islam against their own foes, stoking the fire of Islamic Warfare -unaware that the hellfire of jihad might one day come back to haunt their own homelands.
RonaldB says
Yeah.
That’s putting a nice spin on the colonialism of the British empire.
What about the Boer War, which was fought not for strategic materials like petroleum, but because Britain wanted the newly-discovered diamond and gold riches of South Africa? Britain was losing the Boer War, until it hit on the tactic of putting tens of thousands of Boer civilians into concentration camps and systematically starving them to death.
The old British colonialists managed to hold on until they crafted the Versailles Treaty, the gateway to World War II.
It’s one thing to have petty intrigues jockeying for position among the chess pieces of world politics. It’s quite another thing to chain yourself into ironclad, rigid commitments to jump into a major war.
gravenimage says
And the Ottoman Empire itself launched the Armenian Genocide. Really, Islam has been hideous everywhere.
dan christensen says
All the political topdogs are exploiting the occasion by condemning “nationalism” and are lauding “globalism”, UN, EU and big international organisations.
And yet the so-called “nationalistic ” position is the last line of defense for ordinary people against the tsunami of attacking migrants.
In the Elite’s lingo, anything done or said in defense of the existing christian cultures is blatant extreme nationalism.
In this respect the western Elites work in concert with the islamisc invasion forces in clearing the path for the world caliphate; knowingly or in willful ignorance.
The common European, American and Australian citizen must realize that they are designated to enter the “dhimmi” status in relation to islam in a near future. The international Elites together with the islamic demographic explosion are responsible for the catastrophic prospects.
In these times “nationalism” is the only sensible position for survival of the christian cultures.
WW1 was not the result of nationalism: But “nationalism” was used only as a tool for making naive young men enlist.
Indiana Tom says
A Lot of over the top egos. pride, miscommunication, and stupidity was the kindle that started WW1. Austria posted a list of demands after Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. Serbia agreed to about all of them. Still Austria wanted to teach Serbia a lesson. Then, we have Russia backing Serbia and Germany backing Austria. Then France backs Russia. Then Belgium becomes the hinge point of maneuvers. Britain backs Belgium. It all devolves into a big mess that never should have taken place.
RonaldB says
A huge part of the problem was the Von Schlieffen plan for German mobilization. The German high command had planned for years on how to fight a possible two-front war, against Russia and France. The Von Schieffen plan was a complex set of timetables and orders designed to allow German forces to deploy quickly on both the western and eastern fronts. The big problem was, the von Schlieffen plan was completely inflexible and there was no alternative plan. Thus, if Germany had to mobilize against Russia, it had to mobilize against France and had to traverse Belgium. If the Belgians refused, the Germans had to attack Belgium in order to complete their mobilization.
The von Schlieffen plan was the cherry on the cake of stupid alliances and commitments leading to the general mobilization and declarations of war. As you pointed out, Austria wanted to teach Serbia a lesson, regardless of the almost complete surrender by the Serbian government to Austrian demands. I guess it made as much sense for Russia to guarantee the safety of Serbia as it does for NATO to guarantee the safety of Estonia.
Indiana Tom says
I think the Kaiser asked von Moltke the younger if there was an alternate plan to attacking France and just attacking Russia. The younger replied that Germany had to follow the von Schlieffen plan to knock out France to concentrate on Russia. The Kaiser replied that von Moltke the elder would not have given such an answer.
Benedict says
With the present political correct culture and gender dysphoria that is gripping Europe, except for a handful of countries who are now changing after years of leftist rule, that would be a tall order and would be difficult. The United States would be dragged in to get the European chestnuts’ out of the fire
Walter Sieruk says
Since today is the one hundredth anniversary of Armistice Day we should ,then, further resolve to defend our freedom. Therefore this a very appropriate time to site the wisdom of the first Constitutional President of the United States of America, George Washington, who had, so well explained “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” Moreover President Washington stated that “However pacific the general policy of the nation may be ,it ought never be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies.”
Furthermore, with this post- 9/11 USA it should likewise be remembered that one very good way to defeat the jihadists who compose the many brutal and deadly Islamic terror entities ,such as al Qaeda, ISIS, the Taliban, is by the means of a very strong power of US military might. As Thomas Jefferson had declared “With every barbarous people …force is law.”
RonaldB says
An even better way to defeat jihadists is to keep Muslims out of our countries and keep them bottled up in Muslim countries.
Walter Sieruk says
So true.
gravenimage says
True, Ronald. We were mostly safe from Jihad for hundreds of years when we kept the Muslim world largely isolated from the civilized lands.
gravenimage says
On this 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, let us resolve again to make sacrifices to defend our freedom
……………
Hear, hear!
Yet, there are idiots telling us to forget our forefather’s fight to preserve freedom–like this fool at the Guardian:
“No more remembrance days – let’s consign the 20th century to history”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/09/no-more-remembrance-days-consign-20th-century-history
WPM says
+1
Those who forget history are condemn to repeat it ,Islam is always trying to have us forget its history. They are always trying to do rewrites of it ,are always on the defensive when others point out the facts about it mission which has not changed in 1400 years. Now they have the loony left as partners that have been accept as authority in the MSM as the rewriters of history. The left are willing to forget or better yet erase from history books the lessons we have learn from appeasement of bullies it only encourages them and strengthens them. That they are evil idolatries that raise and gain power in times of unrest, without World War 1 we would not have Hitler ,World War 11,communist Russia , the Koran War, the cold war, million dead ,millions displace , and more then I could even list here. Yes lets forget all that and focus on “safe spaces” hate speech” “OWG to solve problems of all nations”” all evils of the world are the white mans fault” rewriting that the 20th century history so it did not happen ,something that a major war only 100 years ago involving the great powers in the world has no effect or lessons for us today because we us smart phone and chat on the internet what rubbish.
Linde Barrera says
Excellent article and excellent comments. It provokes thought as to what the NYS Board of Regents requires as to high school students learning world history that really happened, and the ideologies behind it. I would like to find out how their curriculum meshes with the truths given here.