MUNICH AND IRAN.

TALK IS STRONG, NOT TALKING TO FASCISTS IS TOLERATING THEM AND THEIR DEEDS.

It goes without saying that one should talk to Iran. Opponents often brandish the talks of France and Great Britain with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich in 1938 as the epitome of the pitfall of talking. Such a naive, but traditional “wisdom” denotes a superficial knowledge of history, infused with erroneous data. Wisdom without knowledge, that’s hubris.

It is true that in Czechoslovakia, the Munich accords came to be known as a “dictate”, or a “betrayal” (it thoroughly violated the military defense treaty between France and Czechoslovakia). Although France had partially mobilized, it forced Czechoslovakia to surrender to Hitler its Sudetenland territory that were had a majority of Germans. (Czechoslovakia sticks smack inside the core of Germany.)

In truth, though, Munich was an indispensable preliminary to World War. If nothing else, it gave time for Britain to mass produce enough of a state of the art airforce. But it did much more. It provided the two large democracies with the casus belli they needed.

When at war, democracies, to stay in one piece, have to have the People use its power, in agreement with itself. That means the war has to be perceived as just by the People. The Romans, under the republic, called that a “Casus Belli”, and paid careful attention to having one always, before going to war. The reason that France and Britain were able to declare war to Hitler while occupying the high moral ground, was precisely because they had talked to him first.

For years prior, Hitler had been good at dividing his opponents. In 1934, he made a pact with Poland, and one with Britain in 1935 (which violated the Versailles Treaty). By 1937 the business opportunities presented by Hitler had incited the USA to pass laws dealing with the democratic French republic as an enemy belligerent of some sort (because France was exhibiting no obvious signs of affection towards Hitler, contrarily to the USA).

As France and Britain talked to Hitler in Munich, they consolidated the British conversion to an alliance with France against Hitler. The talks also forced Hitler to formally engage himself to some agreements. At this point, Hitler was stuck, it was the end of his malevolent dance. Either he respected the accords, and he lost prestige, and that is grave in a regime that rests on terror. Or then he violated the accords, for the whole world to see, and Britain and France had their Casus Belli. Whereas most of the German establishment was satisfied by the Munich agreement, Hitler saw that he had been entrapped, and he was furious.

As it was, Poland, observing that Britain was following France, taking a firm stance, got encouraged to make a formal military assistance treaty with the French republic, and Britain was in the fine print in the appendix.

Next, of course, Hitler, observing that he was in the process of being surrounded by France and Poland, while Britain was scrambling to build a modern air force, had to strike. So he attacked Poland, after rushing a love pact with his pal Stalin. Britain and France declared war, 45 French divisions attacked the Siegfried Line (”Westwall”), and while Poland fought to death, American capitalists of the Wall Street type, rushed anti knock additives Hitler desperately needed for his air force. But I digress.

The point is this: Hitler was entrapped by talk. No talk, no entrapment. If one had kept ignoring Hitler, as the US government was doing, Hitler would have got his world war when he wanted, when he was going to be ready, in 1945, with huge quantities of new weapons that were on the drawing boards. In 1939, he was not ready, not at all. There is force in speech, power in thought. Before acting, think, and then talk.

If nobody had talked to Hitler, the survivors would be living under the Great Nazi World Reich. Only those who have no brains, and no morals, fear speech. Winking at destiny does not make for a better world. Only expression can bend destiny, and that starts with speech.

So indeed, seen from the purely military point of view, the USA should talk to Iran.

Patrice Ayme

Patriceayme.wordpress.com

(Published in International Herald Tribune, October 27, 2008.)