The Limits of Diplomacy, or When Will They Ever Learn?

History is filled with examples of nations and politicians refusing to see reality and believe only what they want to believe.  They have learned to regret it - and at times at heavy costs, including the lives of millions.  Let's see some examples:

• The fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 to the Muslim Turks.  After hundreds of years of struggle, the Muslim Turks accomplish their desire to conquer the Eastern Roman Empire, then known as the Byzantine Empire, which had lived for over 1,500 years.  This happened while the rest of Christian Europe looked on as if this was some far away continent that did not have any impact on them.  Indeed, the Turks assured the Europeans that they had no intention of molesting them after they took Constantinople, the seat of Christianity at the time.  In his masterful book about the Byzantine Empire, Lost to the West, author Lars Brownworth describes how the leader of the Turks at the time, Mehmed II, known as Mehmed the Conqueror, went out of his way to assure the Europeans that he meant no harm to them.  He had previously made this same promise to the Byzantines earlier too.  They foolishly believed him.  Why?  They had to know that the Turks would not stop there. Appeasement failed miserably.  The Turks spent the next 400 years trying to conquer Europe.  They got as far as Vienna and besieged it not once, but twice, in 1529 and 1683. 

• In 1571 the Turks were preparing to invade Europe but were defeated at the Battle of Lepanto, off the coast of Corinth, Greece; they had learned their lesson from 1453.  A combined European naval fleet defeated the Ottoman Fleet and stopped a sure invasion of Europe.  Again, deeds speak louder than words.   Unfortunately, the Europeans forgot this lesson in 1939 when Adolph Hitler had conquest in his mind and was in the process of following through.

• Neville Chamberlain declares "peace in our time" after Adolph Hitler signed a piece treaty promising not to engage in any additional military action against any other country after his conquest of Czechoslovakia.  The Europeans, wanting to believe what they heard, against their better judgement, believed the tyrant.  Within two to three months of the treaty, Hitler invaded Poland, followed by France, Belgium, Russia, Britain and the rest of Europe. The Europeans chose to be fools.

• In our day we have the example of North Korea.  In the mid 1990s North Korea promised they would not build a nuclear bomb. The United States signed an agreement with them and loosened sanctions.  North Korea violated the agreement almost immediately; they lied; yet the rest of the world, wanting to believe this chose to be fools.

• The United States and Iran.  In the past twenty years, the United States has tried to deal diplomatically with Iran's nuclear ambition to no avail.  The United States has publicly stated that they would not accept a nuclear Iran.  All American presidents from Reagan to Obama have tried diplomacy; it has never worked.  Now, the Obama administration is trying to accept what the French have called "a sucker's deal," agreeing that Iran can build their nuclear program up to 20%.   Now, is there any evidence that the Iranians can be trusted? None whatsoever, but the Obama administration is so eager to agree not to take any military action that they will believe whatever they wish were true; not reality.  Do you remember 1979 and the taking of the U.S. hostages? They have not learned from history; they have chosen to be fools.

The Europeans in 1453 chose to believe what they wished to be true even though they had to know it could not be true so they allowed the Muslim Turks to conquer the hart of Christianity along with all the Christians in the country.  The Turks, to this day, persecute their Christian citizens.  One of our parish priests who was a United States Air Force Chaplain stationed in Turkey, said that the Christians could not even ring the bell of their church without the permission of civil authorities which was rarely given.

Last year the CBS TV program "60 Minutes" broadcast a piece about the persecuted Christians in Turkey. Click here to read the story and watch the video. Among the many things they mentioned was the fact that the Turks have now banned any Christian Seminaries. They want to make sure that Christians will disappear.  Peace at any price?  Christianity in 1453 lost almost half of the territory they inhabited. To give you some perspective of the enormity of this debacle, imagine that the world outside of Europe had refused to participate in World War II to fight the Nazis.  The Nazis would be ruling Europe today.  This was exactly the effect of Europe's failure to help their fellow Byzantine Christians resist aggression by the Turks.  They chose to be fools.

In 1939, the Europeans were so eager to avoid war that they wanted to believe anything even though they had to know that they would pay a heavy price for appeasing Hitler.  Indeed, they paid a heavy price, not only financially but in the enormous loss of life. Eighty-five million people died in World War II as a result.  Peace at any price?  They chose to be fools.

If you follow today's news you will see that we, in the United States, are repeating these same mistakes, as described earlier.  The US looks like it has chosen to be the fools.  When will they learn?