History Repeats

Currently, I'm watching Why We Fight World War II - A Prelude to War & the Nazis Strike, a 1940s era American propaganda movie, as part of the Marine Corps' Command & Staff Seminar. The movie was produced by both the Department of the Army and Hollywood (my how times have changed). The movie's main point? Simple - one way of life must survive, the USA's (and other freedom loving nations) or the Axis'.

What has struck me most are the parallels between how the Nazis, Italian fascists, and the Japanese operated then and how Islamic political and terrorist organizations are operating today. Throughout the movie, the Axis powers are shown to be advocating their way of life is not only the one, true way, but also, the way in which the whole world will eventually live under their rule. Unfortunately, the similarities between the occurrences of under 70 years ago are alive and well today.

For example, Italian women were honored and rewarded for giving birth to many sons. In comparison, the families of Palestinian suicide bombers are given state aid and numerous amounts of donations.

A second example is the political propaganda of the Axis powers. Each of those government's leaders made speech after speech about how the individual should put their trust in the state. The individual should give up thinking and criticizing the government and allow the state to think for them. Today, we see the same type of speeches in Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and others. This type of subjugation of the individual to the state is fascism, plain and simple.

The third example is no less shocking. The Japanese plan for its conquest was set out in the Tanaka Plan. The Tanaka Plan had several phases: 1) Conquest of Manchuria and then China; 2) Conquest of Southeast Asia; 3) Conquest of America's Pacific Islands; and 4) the Western United States. The efficacy of this plan is subject to extensive debate. However, the Japanese did execute a fair portion of it in an effort to assert their imperialistic goals.

Similarly, the stated goal of Al-Qaeda is to re-establish the caliphate of the 7th Century. They are not alone in this goal. In fact, a centerpiece of Muslim proselytizing is to convert the unbelievers to The Way.

The shocking thing is how little the free world is paying attention to the similarities between the Axis methods to those of today's Islamic terrorists. The ideology is similar - world domination. The methods are similar - subjugation of the individual to the state, or in this case, the religion. And, they both will use military action to achieve their goals. The minor difference is the Axis powers had the regular military at their disposal. The Islamists have successfully co-opted the general populace.

Wake up!!! Take notice of what is going on around us. Wake Up!!