Get it right, Mr. Kemp

By Daniel Joseph "Danny" Smiechowski

United States involvement in WWII European Theater compared to Iraq Occupation

Daniel is a former public school teacher in San Diego, California where he currently resides. He is considered an overall bon vivant having written on topics as diverse as politics, bicycle racing, French Culture, philosophy and social issues. He has completed over one hundred triathlons worldwide and has visited France eighteen times at last count. He attended the University of France, "Sorbonne" and graduated from San Diego State University. He has run for public office seven times.....

Daniel J. Smiechowski August 24, 2007 There continues to be much discussion among Iraq War supporters, most notably the reference of former Congressman and Vice-Presidential candidate Jack Kemp comparing U.S. involvement in Iraq to the events of WWII Europe. Mr. Kemp is correct in his assertions, but has his facts inside out.

Consider the following: Germany, without provocation, invaded the sovereign nation-state of Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, sound familiar? The following year, they crushed the Maginot line like a Tinker Toy, occupying France from 1940-44 as the Vichy Regime, sound familiar? The Germans established their own so-called Green Zone in The City of Light along present day Boulevard Hausmann, sound familiar? They also established state-of-the-art military bases throughout the country. Sound familiar? The French Nation which I love dearly was sadly anti-Semitic, sound familiar? Captains of Industry along with German corporate titans including Bayer Pharmaceuticals had aided and abetted the Occupation. Sound familiar? Banks in neutral Switzerland were busier than a Chinese Laundry. Sound familiar? To the south, Spain's fascist leader Franco, having seen enough of a young Marshal Tito in their 1938 civil war, also decided on neutrality. Sound familiar? In The Fatherland, the so-called man on the street remained indifferent and disengaged from reality. Sound familiar? German propaganda ruled the day. Sound familiar? French General Charles De Gaulle took refuge in London where he gave what is arguably the greatest call to arms speech of the 20th Century, sound familiar? Many within the French military had collaborated with the German occupying force, sound familiar? And yes, there were even perceived terrorists, among those my own family, shot and taken prisoner of war while operating as the Free French, sound familiar?

So Mr. Kemp, although the intention may differ in these two wars, the result remains the same. That is, on one hand you have the intent of state-sponsored fascism and the other of democratizing the Middle East. How can you, sir, justify both your intent and result without respect to the present conditions no less? America has repeated the barbarism of the past disguised as a benevolent intent. The French have an old saying, "The more things change, the more things stay the same." How pathetic and demeaning of our beloved America, sound familiar?