Returning for a moment to World War II and the political manoevering that went on prior to its outbreak, one can see another fatal miscalculation that had horrendous consequences. For if European nations (especially Britain and France) had acted in unity in their opposition to expansionist Germany in 1939 and accepted the proposals of the Soviet Union for a mutual assistance treaty in the event of a German attack, the 2nd World War could possibly have been prevented. Negotiations between Britain, France and the Soviet Union had been ongoing about the Soviet proposal to establish a treaty of mutual assistance and a military convention between them. The proposed pact involved a commitment that "would oblige England, France and the USSR to render mutually forthwith all manner of assistance, including that of a military nature, in case of aggression in Europe against any one of the contracting Powers". (2) Other clauses of this proposed pact involved similar commitments for Eastern European states bordering on the Soviet Union. However, the negotiations ultimately failed over disagreement about Poland, whose fiercely anti-Soviet government wanted no Soviet troops on its territory under any circumstances. Britain and France, having already signed the phoney Munich non-aggression agreement with Hitler, did not press Poland on the issue. One may assume that the possibility of the German fascists beating up on the Soviet communists was also not without appeal to them.
But the failure to present Hitler with a united front in 1939 turned out to be a huge error with enormous consequences. The Munich agreement wasn't worth the paper it was written on and Hitler decided to attack the countries of western Europe before tackling the USSR. By the time the war was over, fifty million lives had been lost, including 20 million Soviets and 6 million Jews. The latter had been persecuted by Hitler's nazis and most were murdered in the gas chambers of Dachau, Buchenwald and other places of infamy.

Without taking anything away from the American war effort, it was the Soviets who dealt the German army their fatal deathstake. The legendary battles of Stalingrad, Moscow, Leningrad and Kursk stand as monuments to human suffering and destruction, but after these victorious battles, the outcome of the war was never in doubt. But although the Soviets may have won the war militarily, in the West it was the Americans who won the propaganda war for popularity.
One group, the Jews, who had suffered such horrendous persecution by Hitler's nazis most certainly had the greatest amount of sympathy in the world. This undoubtedly was a major contributing factor to the passing of United Nations resolution 181 on november 29, 1947 in which the United Nations General Assembly called for the partition of the British-ruled Palestine Mandate into a Jewish state and an Arab state. It was approved on November 29, 1947 with 33 votes in favor, 13 against, 10 abstentions and one absent . The resolution was accepted by the Jews in Palestine, yet rejected by the Arabs in Palestine and the Arab states.
The Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel was approved at a session of the People�s Council, comprised of representatives of the yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine) and the Zionist movement, on Friday, May 14, 1948, several hours before the British Mandate for Palestine came to an end.

One might well wonder if the formation of the State of Israel would have taken place if it wasn't for WW II and the holocaust, without which the opposition of the Arab nations may have carried greater weight with the international community. If so, it can be argued that the failure of France, Britain and the Soviet Union to sign the 1939 pact to come to each others defense in case of attack has had a direct impact on future developments in the Middle East and in particular on the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli oppression and the occupation of their lands.This struggle is now recognized as being at the root of the growing spread of terrorist actions in the world, targeted (besides against Israel) primarily against the USA as the prime backer, financier and supporter of Israel. Thus a sort of domino theory arises where the failure of the 1939 pact led to failure to stop WW II, which allowed the holocaust to occur, which resulted in the establishment of the State of Israel, which led to the Israeli - Palestinian conflict and ultimately leads to the current war on terrorism.

There are of course numerous other factors that have influenced the course of history besides the above mentioned ones. Yet it makes clear the potentially enormous consequences of governmental decisions, not only on contemporary developments, but also on events far into the future. And in that respect, the ill-conceived decision by the Bush administration to invade Iraq is very likely to have serious consequences for decades to come.

Besides the current situation in Iraq there is also the issue of the recent NATO expansion. NATO, which ought to have been dissolved after the end of the cold war, instead has turned itself into an aggressive military alliance that serves the needs of the global corporate empire. On March 29, 2004, on occasion of the expansion of NATO with seven new members, George W. Bush remarked that it was a 'great achievement' for these nations to join the alliance. The addition of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania to the fold means however that NATO is now situated right on the borders of Russia, the very country with which most of these nations formed the Warsaw Pact in opposition to NATO not too many years ago. "Today, all seven of these nations are helping to bring lasting freedom to Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush told those assembled at the White House ceremony.
Nice words indeed, but far from the reality. By joining the forces of the Big-Lie about Iraq, each one of them is now accepting a share of the responsibility for what is taking place there, not only today, but in the future as well. At the same time they become part of the American drive for world hegemony, an objective that will meet enormous resistance worldwide and cannot but fail in the end. Additionally, bringing NATO to the borders of Russia is being perceived in that country as an aggressive and threatening move which invites counter-action on their part and thus causes an escalation of tensions in the region.
Add to that the US intention of building a missile defense system, their threats to the countries of the so-called axis of evil, their pressure tactics on foreign nations to follow the neo-liberal course of economic development, etc. etc. and it becomes clear that the consequences of all these actions are far from promising.

One thing is clear however. These actions are not going to lead to peace, freedom and democracy around the world, but instead will create war, chaos and death on many fronts. Not a pleasant prospect for the 21st century, which the US hawks named "The American Century". Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat the mistakes of the past. And it's happening now, right before our eyes.

(1) Tariq Ali is the author of the book "Bush in Babylon".
(2) From the archives of the USSR.

� Copyright 2003 by AxisofLogic.com

W. Vic Ratsma is a lifelong political activist. Now retired and living in Nova Scotia, Canada, he contributes articles and poetry in both English and Dutch to a number of progressive publications.
He can be reached at vic@axisoflogic.com