Those Who Forget The Past …

In the long history of Poland getting thrown to the lions by the world’s superpowers, we had no idea that U.S. President Barack Obama had made his decision to abandon the Polish people (and the Czechs, too) on the 70th Anniversary of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Poland.

Talk about reinforcing an already scorching inferiority complex, people.  Seriously, Did Lech Walesa bring Poland this far for nothing?

Thankfully, we have our bud Charlie Speight (a.k.a. “The Garnet Spy”) to remind us of things like that – and to provide some needed historical context on the latest missile-related minutiae.

From The Garnet Spy:

Rewind Vienna. June, 1961.

The new U.S. President, John Kennedy, met with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to discuss a wide range of topics. One subject that was not publicized was the presence of U.S. Jupiter missiles in Turkey. The green Kennedy was pushed around by the blustering Khrushchev, leaving the president looking very weak …

… With Kennedy’s political feebleness established, the Soviet Union’s puppet regime in East Germany soon began construction of the Berlin Wall. But more dangerously, the Vienna encounter emboldened Khrushchev to bolster the new communist regime in Cuba.

Two months before Vienna, Kennedy’s Administration literally left Cuban freedom fighters to die on the beach at the Bay of Pigs. The following month, the Soviet Premier announced that an attack on Cuba would spark a new world war and the USSR was investing in the island country’s defense.

We all know what happened next … a crisis that brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any point in its history, a war which was only avoided by the doctrine of mutually assured destruction … oh, and a secret promise from the Americans to never again participate in an invasion of Cuba.

Hmmm … Kennedy-Krushchev, Obama-Putin … interesting parallel.

To read The Spy’s excellent analysis in its entirety, click here …

Incidentally, what does Walesa think of Obama’s decision?

“Americans have always cared only about their interests, and all other [countries] have been used for their purposes,” the former Solidarity leader said. “This is another example.  [Poles] need to review our view of America, we must first of all take care of our business.”

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