A Lesson From History

It is entertaining to see George Bush compared to Adolph Hitler, but in all truth such comparisons do seem rather extreme and exaggerated. But then I find all comparisons to Adolph Hitler (e.g. Saddam Hussein) exaggerated and extreme. There's no question that Hitler was in a class all by himself. Not necessarily in terms of what he wanted to do, but in what he was actually capable of doing and did do.

So while recently reading John Erickson's The Road To Stalingrad , I was struck by the deja vuquality of the official German reasons for the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. See for yourself:

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Hitler's Invasion of Germany	Bush's Invasion of Iraq
To sum up, the Government of the Reich declares, therefore, that the Soviet Government, contrary to the obligations is assumed 1. has not only continued, but even intensified its attempts to undermine Germany and Europe; 2. has adopted an increasingly anti-German policy; 3. has concentrated all its forces in readiness at the German border. Thereby the Soviet Government has broken its treaties with Germany and is about to attack Germany from the rear, in its struggle for life. The Fuhrer has therefore ordered the Whermache to oppose this threat with all the means at its disposal.	Saddam Hussein has continued to defy and undermine the resolutions of the free world Has adopted an increasingly anti-American policy Has concentrated its efforts at obtaining and developing weapons of mass destruction. Therefore Iraq has violated the mandates of the United Nations and is about to attack the United States, and its way of life. The President has therefore ordered the armed forces to oppose this threat with all the means at its disposal.

You can draw your own conclusions about any parallels between the two. What I might point out is that the administration has shifted its spin from Saddam's weapons of mass destruction to what an awful human being Saddam was. No argument there. Stalin was also an awful human being, probably more so.

How will history see this? Has history vindicated Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union because Stalin was an awful human being?

Copyright 2010 Michael G. O'Neill. All Rights Reserved.