I had a truly lovely beach wander this afternoon, in warm, overcast, and occasionally sunny conditions. Also a very rare event for Crescent Beach, there was no wind, which resulted in a calm and tranquil feeling to the outing.
Like many times before, when I start a beach wander I select a subject; today’s was about a news item from a couple of days ago, and it’s similarity to events in 1938 …
Donald Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared
Kushner recently made their eighth visit to Putin in Moscow, and followed this
up by their very first to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Just prior to the formal meeting, and in front of the global
press, Steve Witkoff in reference to his previous visits, said to Putin ~ “When
we eventually retire, we will look back on all these incredible stories and
incredible memories, and yours will be right at the top of it …”
Witkoff's warm tone and glowing remarks sparked immediate
public and media attention, with critics describing the comments as overly
flattering towards the Russian leader ~ a man who every day of his life, orders
the killing of innocent civilians, and the destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure.
This was just Witkoff’s the most recent complimentary and
commendatory remarks towards Putin, he has done it more than couple of times
before. He has also indicated from his past eight meetings with Putin, that
Ukraine should yield to Putin’s demands. I see it as a form of appeasement to a
man (an aggressor) who is determined, by a brutal military force, to destroy a
sovereign country, grab its land and subjugate the population.
To anyone who has any knowledge about the beginnings of
WWII, I am sure they will see parallels of Ukraine today, to the events of
September 1938 …
During that month, British Prime Minister Neville
Chamberlain went to Germany three times to visit another dictator, Adolf
Hitler. This in an effort to avert a European war over the Sudetenland crisis.
The Sudetenland was a historical border region of Czechoslovakia that was
predominantly inhabited by ethnic Germans, in a similar way to parts of modern
day Ukraine has a Russian speaking population.
On Chamberlain's first visit, he flew to Hitler's mountain
retreat at Berchtesgaden, where the dictator threatened war unless the
German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia was handed over to
Germany. Chamberlain agreed to consult with the French and his own government back in Britain.
When Chamberlain returned to Germany just one week later,
Hitler increased his demands, calling for immediate German military occupation of the
territory before any formal transfer could be negotiated.
Now this is where it really gets good ~ at the third
meeting, “mediated” by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, Chamberlain,
Hitler, French Premier Édouard Daladier met in Munich, all Czechoslovak
representatives were excluded. They signed what was called the Munich Agreement,
which allowed Germany to annex the Sudetenland, with Hitler stating and assuring that he no
further annexation desires in Europe.
Upon his return from Munich, Chamberlain landed at Heston
Aerodrome in London, then while waving the piece of paper with the agreement
written upon it, he famously declared “peace in our time”. Hitler broke the
agreement less than six months later by invading the rest of Czechoslovakia.
Then in September 1939, 12 months after the Munich Agreement WWII started, when
Hitler invaded Poland.
The meetings between Chamberlain and Hitler became the
defining symbol of the pre-war policy of appeasement towards Hitler and
Germany, which had been going on throughout the 1930’s.
Repeatedly, I see the Trump administration practice a
similar form of appeasement towards Russia, and in particular Putin. Winston
Churchill once said ~ “those that fail to learn from history are doomed to
repeat it”. With Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with his golf and real estate
developer buddy Steve Witkoff, leading the charge for peace, together with the added responsibility of performing as
Putin’s messenger boys ~ what could possibly go wrong …!!!
Below are some photos taken during Neville Chamberlain’s visits with Hitler in September 1938. I find it interesting to compare them with the photos taken with Trump’s envoys (Witkoff & Kushner) and Putin just a few days ago in Moscow.
While I was sitting on My Rock, the guy below was sailing around poking away at the seaweed. Shortly afterwards, he came up and perched himself just a few feet away, where upon we had a deep, interesting and at times captivating one-way conversation, all while being spied upon by Mr. Blue Heron ...
