The American Spectator

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This naïveté occurred during the "Phony War" period from October 1939 to the spring of 1940, after the French and English declared war on Germany as a result of the invasion of Poland. The Brits sent a 300,000 man expeditionary force to France and the French mobilized troops along their border with Germany, but did little else in way of waging a ground war. They asked the Belgians for permission to deploy troops into Belgium proper to establish defensive positions against a German invasion through the Low Countries, but were refused permission to do so for fear of antagonizing Herr Hitler. And that is where the situation remained for months while Hitler redeployed all of his crack troops from Poland to his western frontiers in preparation for the Blitzkrieg that befell the Netherlands, Belgium, and France on May 10, 1940 (after similar quick excursions into Norway and Denmark in April 1940).

p>The stupidity of standing idly by whilst your antagonistic neighbor cocks his fist is breathtaking. These morons actually believe appeasement works -- at least Chamberlain eventually figured it out and stood ably by Sir Winston in his finest hour. There was even a contingent of "useful idiots" in France and Britain in 1939-40 who were convinced that if their countries actually disarmed rather than mobilize they would be left alone. The mind reels...as our President says, "9/11 changed all that." I am fully confident that we will suffer many fewer casualties when we disarm Iraq than we suffered on 9/11, but I hold out no hope that we will bask in the glow of a grateful world. Sigh, it's lonely at the top, isn't it? br> -- Ed McManus /p> p> I must admit that I don't like the French for obvious reasons, namely, I have found them to be crude, rude and sickeningly self-centered. Nevertheless, I and my wife and our dear friends, the Hills, booked a river cruise on the Seine for April. The trip begins in Normandy, traverses the river to Paris and ends with a 3-day stay in gay (meaning happy) Paree. (What the heck, April in Paris, romantic, you know.) When they threw a sabot into our machinery, I looked into canceling the trip. The penalty was $2,500. So, I decided we'd go and just eat a huge breakfast (included) and dine at McDonald's in defiance. (This is a real sacrifice for me 'cause I don't like fast food and am un-American enough to dislike Pizza already.) Then, we learned our 12-year old grandson has Hodgkins. So, we stopped teetering and canceled the damn trip. The Hills had wisely bought the insurance and are only out $400. Now, I don't recommend everyone go to that extreme. But, send those cards and letters, don't go to France while letting them know how much it is costing them and give up escargot and truffles. Let those [so and so's] know we just ain't gonna take it. I doubt if they can take the extreme pain in their wallets. br> -- Dick Lambert br> Eagle Rock, VA /p> p> "The Entente Non Cordiale " stated that "Turkish fast food is unheard of and no threat to the eating habits of Europe." This isn't true. I have eaten Turkish fast food both in Norway and Germany, and it seems to be popular. br> -- Steve Koch

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