I’ve refrained from commenting on a couple recent columns (the proselytizing ones: I was raised a Methodist where we rely on good deeds and copious hymns) but I have to offer this statement: until we retain operational control over our own southern border, any problems of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, et al aren’t on my radar.
Christ...took for ever to sign up...lost the will to live for a while...what has been described in this post is an invasion...alas...a successful Islamic invasion of the Western world...happening in Australia too...perhaps it will all work out...in a thousand years...we will be one race of brown folk...living in harmony...tolerance will reign...but the next few years look to be somewhat tough..problematic...a lot of these new migrants have 8-10 kids...and have a tribal culture with endemic hatreds...S H Cohen
"Like Austria, it [Finland] long avoided NATO membership"
Actually, Austria was occupied by Allied troops, including Soviet, until 1955 when Austrian sovereignty was restored by treaty. It imposed conditions on Austria, like prohibition against uniting with Germany, and neutrality was proclaimed shortly after all Allied troops left.
Finland's "lessons" are ambiguous: an ally of Hitler during WW2, Finnish troops fought with the Nazis and took part in the Siege of Leningrad, where close to 2M civilians starved to death. At the same time, Finland refused to deport its Jewish community to Nazi lands and Finnish Jews served in the army during the war.
Lessons from the Baltic states are not ambiguous: they served avidly in the Nazi army and participated enthusiastically in the extermination of their Jewish populations, the reason why so few Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Jews perished in the well-known concentration camps (they were murdered on-site by their neighbors). Impossible to feel the slightest sympathy for the Baltic states, then or now.
Latvia still holds an annual parade to commemorate the Latvian SS Division; serving cabinet ministers have often taken part.
I’ve refrained from commenting on a couple recent columns (the proselytizing ones: I was raised a Methodist where we rely on good deeds and copious hymns) but I have to offer this statement: until we retain operational control over our own southern border, any problems of Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, et al aren’t on my radar.
Christ...took for ever to sign up...lost the will to live for a while...what has been described in this post is an invasion...alas...a successful Islamic invasion of the Western world...happening in Australia too...perhaps it will all work out...in a thousand years...we will be one race of brown folk...living in harmony...tolerance will reign...but the next few years look to be somewhat tough..problematic...a lot of these new migrants have 8-10 kids...and have a tribal culture with endemic hatreds...S H Cohen
"Like Austria, it [Finland] long avoided NATO membership"
Actually, Austria was occupied by Allied troops, including Soviet, until 1955 when Austrian sovereignty was restored by treaty. It imposed conditions on Austria, like prohibition against uniting with Germany, and neutrality was proclaimed shortly after all Allied troops left.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_State_Treaty
Finland's "lessons" are ambiguous: an ally of Hitler during WW2, Finnish troops fought with the Nazis and took part in the Siege of Leningrad, where close to 2M civilians starved to death. At the same time, Finland refused to deport its Jewish community to Nazi lands and Finnish Jews served in the army during the war.
Lessons from the Baltic states are not ambiguous: they served avidly in the Nazi army and participated enthusiastically in the extermination of their Jewish populations, the reason why so few Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian Jews perished in the well-known concentration camps (they were murdered on-site by their neighbors). Impossible to feel the slightest sympathy for the Baltic states, then or now.
Latvia still holds an annual parade to commemorate the Latvian SS Division; serving cabinet ministers have often taken part.