I stated it did not happen
1. in London during WW2 (and it didn't)
2. in New York during WW2 (and it didn't from an American standpoint)
The Bund became all but defunct in November 1941 when its leader, Gerhard Kunze fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution over draft issues; America was not at war until the following month.
Therefore, I stand by my post,and the facts of history support it.
Your argument still fails, on the grounds stated, however your position that in the near term the risks are low won't get any disagreement from me. But not everyone is as short sighted as you, or I, and many people look at things in terms of generations. One of the things I admired about some of the Japanese and Italians I met was their ability to adapt the long term view without too much mental effort. I don't find that capacity as common in the people I interact with around here.
Maybe their perspectives (those who look at bit further down the time line), are worth your trying to understand. You don't have to agree, or even adopt their PoV, but I don't think you are giving it any consideration.
100%. I don't want there to be any chance of my children or grandchildren having to grow up in an
extremist Islamic state with all the resulting barbaric practices toward dissenters (especially women) that it implies. If people think having a few freedom of speech rights curtailed is bad, try living in a country where women are brutalised for wanting to have an education, where atheists are summarily executed, and where the pursuit of religion is only allowed if you are of the "official" religion, with practitioners of all other religions persecuted and their symbols houses and of worship razed or demolished. To those people who think ISIL is no threat, at least not in the way that Nazi Germany was, have a think about this.
The Nazis pursued what they saw as an idealistic crusade to set up an exclusivist world based on their Aryan "master race", using racial hatred of Jews to achieve their goal. ISIL is pursing a similar goal, a jihad to set up an all-encompassing Islamic State based on their own extremist variety of Islam, using religious hatred to achieve that end. In their world view, only practitioners of their unique, fanatical version of Islam have the right to exist. All others ( and that includes Shia Muslims) must either convert or die. Just like the Nazis, ISIL have demonstrated time and again that they are utterly ruthless in the pursuit of their ideal, and again like the Nazis before them, they have no hesitation whatsoever in slaughtering anyone who they deem to be in their way, or who does not fit into their world view. They are utterly merciless in dealing with their enemies, or anyone else who has no place in their new order. They are also threatening Jews with a new Holocaust.
Hitler was not taken seriously until it was too late to stop him. The rest of the world seriously underestimated just how far he was prepared to go to get what he wanted. The clues were always there; anyone who read
Mein Kampf would have understood this, but unfortunately, those who did tagged him a madman, not be be taken seriously.... well, at least they got the first part right!
However, Hitler was cunning enough to start small while thinking big. He managed to achieve much of what he wanted by moving forward slowly and steadily in "baby steps" so that he didn't get the attention of his opponents, and always assuring potential enemies that he had achieved what he wanted and would stop now. When Hitler came to power in 1933 he did little in the way of advancement that would have got much public attention outside of Germany for three years until sending troops into Rhineland in 1936. Two further years passed before he annexed Austria (with his BS story that it was what the Austrians wanted). After this, he felt confident that he was becoming unstoppable; and proceeded into Czechoslovakia later in the same year, taking western Sudetenland under the same pretence he used for the annexing of Austria; that this is what it's ethnic Germans wanted. Britain agreed to allow this when Hitler persuaded them that he was advancing no further (thanks for that Neville). Now that he was past the mountains, he just went straight for Prague., and Poland was next.
The whole point if this ramble is to point out that people who have peace and tranquillity uppermost in their minds are often blind to the threat to their way of life until it is too late to do anything about it. Hitler could have been stopped in his tracks in 1920 when he had few supporters and meager resources. He might even have been stopped with more difficulty just before he came to dictatorial power in 1933. By 1939, Germany was too strong, and it was too late.
Now I freely admit that there are a lot of differences between them, but I believe that the similarities are to obvious and too frightening to ignore. WW2 was 20 years in the making. ISIL might not be a threat now or even in the short term future, but if they are tolerated, not opposed, and continually made concessions to, they WILL grow stronger and by the time they do become a clear and present threat, it may be too late to do anything about them without the investment of a colossal amount of resources, and a massive loss of life.
I find it interesting that nearly 20% of the voters on this poll (1 in 5) think that ISIL are
"A pretty big threat to all of us and our way of life". Its interesting because I am surprised that as many as that have the vision to see them for what they are. I only hope the western world don't wait until its too late before they see what the 1 in 5 do!
.