Other Columns by Mike Bayham
Mike Bayham Bio

Printer-Friendly Version

Stupid White Men
By Mike Bayham
April 11, 2002

One of the best selling books in America is a collection of illogical rants by Hollywood director and self-proclaimed political philosopher Michael Moore. His book, titled "Stupid White Men," is full of absurd statements and criticisms of the Bush administration. One could almost call it a collection of bumper sticker slogans in book format which does not contribute anything to civil and intelligent political discourse.

My main objection is the title of the book for it could have been better used as the title of a tome on the past and present state of European leadership in world affairs, especially in the most recent crisis in the Middle East.

During the 20th century, many of the European nations have behaved like rambunctious children continuously engaged in playground fights provoking the United States to play the role of the grade school teacher breaking them up. After fighting the "war to end all wars," the leaders of Europe promptly laid the foundation for World War II and other bloody conflicts.

The victors insisted on harsh terms for a nation (Imperial Germany) that was more exhausted than conquered in 1918. When Germany began to act aggressively in the thirties, the wise men of Europe, who took great satisfaction in kicking Germany when they were down in the twenties, hid under their beds until Hitler dragged them out kicking and screaming.

Europe was also the birthplace of the Holocaust, an extermination process headed by Nazi Germany but enthusiastically assisted by more than a few of the puppet governments set up in German-occupied European countries.

The creation of the multi-republic of Yugoslavia, a nation that should have never existed, resulted in the murder of thousands of innocent people during World War II and was replayed throughout 1990s.

The times when certain European leaders have feigned pacifism has not been any less distasteful. Most Americans have not forgotten France's refusal to grant permission to allow American fighter planes to fly over it en route to Libya during Ronald Reagan's own "War Against Terrorism." Not a decade after Desert Storm, the governments of Europe have been advocating the normalization of trade and relations with the same government they had joined the US in attacking.

It does not seem to matter to them that Saddam Hussein has been busy developing weapons of mass destruction. Finally, Europe contributed many voices that decried potential American military action in Afghanistan only days after September 11. Their remedy for the terrorist attacks came in the form of conferences not reprisals.

With such a history of cowardice and poor judgment, one can only surmise that if the United States had sat on its hands during the Cold War and let Europe handle the Soviet Union by themselves, western Europe would have either been conquered outright by the USSR or morphed into a collection of "Finlands" collaborating with the Soviets at every turn.

And now the collective leadership of a continent that time and time again has demonstrated their inability to govern themselves or to get along with their neighbors has decided to contribute its two cents on the turmoil in the Middle East. Staying true to previous form, they have cast aside the security of Western civilization's beachhead in the Mideast and have sided with Yasser Arafat.

The EU has stated their outrage over Israel's "defiance of world opinion" and the "invasion" of Palestinian territory by Israeli forces. To back up their protest, the European Union has threatened to enact a one billion dollar embargo on the Jewish State.

With such a miserable track record concerning foreign policy and Jews, why in the world does the 21st century version of the Austro-Hungarian Empire feel a need to say anything about the Middle East?

First of all, there is no such thing as Palestinian territory. What is referred to as "Palestinian territory" is the eastern border of Israel. It used to be Arab land but they lost it during one of their numerous though unsuccessful invasions of Israel. This is a concept that European nations should be all too familiar with since losing wars has been the way the borders of Europe have shifted over the past thousand years.

Secondly, the "invasion" is an attempt by Israel to raise the siege that is choking the country. There cannot be a doubt that Israel is in a state of war. Semantics mean little when public buses are being blown up left and right. These coordinated terrorist attacks are coming from the associates of the same man that erroneously won a Nobel Peace prize several years ago. But I'll go one step further and state that Arafat himself is encouraging the suicide bombings of civilian establishments and could very well be coordi nating them. So why is Europe siding with the aggressor?

Thirdly, it is apparent that the Arab world is acting in bad faith with their peace overtures. Arab states have spent forty of the past fifty years trying to wipe Israel off the map and their latest peace offering is more of a death certificate than a peace treaty.

And finally, the Arab world's lamenting over the conditions of the Palestinian people rings hollow. Israel's treatment of Palestinian insurgents is no less inhumane than the way Arab leaders handle their own countrymen that have the courage to voice their dissent. Palestinian refugees are treated like dirt by the Arab countries they live in and are used as political pawns by the autocratic leaders of the Arab world. Can anyone remember the last time Syria or Saudi Arabia received a plaque from Amnesty International for their commitment to human rights?

I've heard a variety of reasons why European leaders have taken the side of Arafat, some which include oil and appeasing the growing Muslim minorities in some European countries. Or maybe Europe feels that if it collaborates with the barbarians, they will prevent the same terrorist acts from being committed against them. What's not guiding their policy positions on the Middle East is common sense or any concern for the future of Israel.

Regrettably for Israel, the leadership of Europe simply does not "get" it. But since their predecessors also did not "get" the German occupation of Austria, the Sudatenland, and Memel it should be of no surprise why today's leaders of Europe have taken such a bizarre position. Its almost as if they are willingly following the footsteps of Petain and Quisling and helping the Palestinian fuhrer finish the job that the German one could not.