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"NOTHING appears more surprising to those, who consider human
affairs with a philosophical eye, than the easiness with which the
many are governed by the few; and the implicit submission, with
which men resign their own sentiments and passions to those of their
rulers. When we enquire by what means this wonder is effected, we
shall find, that, as FORCE is always on the side of the governed,
the governors have nothing to support them but opinion. It is
therefore, on opinion only that government is founded; and this
maxim extends to the most despotic and most military governments, as
well as to the most free and most popular..."<br>
<br>
--David Hume, "Of the First Principles of Government" (1768) <br>
<br>
On 12/25/10 9:32 PM, E. Wayne Johnson wrote:<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">> It's cool.<br>
> <br>
> And cute, too.<br>
> <br>
> But the sad truth is that these young men who could see the
benefits <br>
> of friendship, and had in their hands the tools (the weapons)
to<br>
> stop the war, CHOSE (made a conscious decision) to hunker
back down<br>
> under their Evil Masters and horrifically slaughter one
another for<br>
> over 3 more years.<br>
> <br>
> After all, it was what your government expected of you...<br>
> <br>
> "Shooting Germans is sort of like shooting rabbits."<br>
> <br>
> And they fought to make WW2 possible.<br>
> <br>
> Cheers.<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> <br>
> On 12/26/2010 3:56 AM, Robert Naiman wrote:<br>
>>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/the-christmas-truce-of-19_b_801243.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/the-christmas-truce-of-19_b_801243.html</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> </span><br>
The Christmas Truce of 1914: "Threat to National Security"?<br>
<span style="white-space: pre;">>> <br>
>> As we celebrate Christmas 2010, 100,000 US troops
languish in<br>
>> Afghanistan, and Bradley Manning sits in "maximum custody<br>
>>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daphne-eviatar/bradley-mannings-confinem_b_800737.html"><http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daphne-eviatar/bradley-mannings-confinem_b_800737.html></a>"<br>
>> in Quantico for the alleged crime of disclosing
classified<br>
>> "secrets" about U.S. foreign policy - "secrets" like the
video<br>
>>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack"><http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack></a><br>
>> of U.S. troops killing two /Reuters/ employees in Iraq, a
video<br>
>> that the U.S. military refused to release to /Reuters/.<br>
>> <br>
>> It is a particular stain on our country to be at war
during the<br>
>> Season of Peace, just as it is a particular stain on our
country to<br>
>> be at war during the Olympics. "Peace on Earth" should
stick in our<br>
>> throats a bit this holiday season, when our own
government is<br>
>> bombing other people's countries, a practice which we
have, so far,<br>
>> been unable to stop.<br>
>> <br>
>> The idea that there is something especially offensive
about<br>
>> prosecuting war during Christmas is longstanding. On
December 7,<br>
>> 1914, Pope Benedict XV called for<br>
>>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.harrisondaily.com/opinion/article_758ae5c8-a68d-59f3-9a4f-bb5df3dbcbce.html"><http://www.harrisondaily.com/opinion/article_758ae5c8-a68d-59f3-9a4f-bb5df3dbcbce.html></a><br>
>> an official Christmas truce in the war in Europe, "that
the guns<br>
>> may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang."<br>
>> <br>
>> The Pope's call was rejected by the warring governments,
and two<br>
>> words he used suggest a reason: "at least." The Pope's
remarks<br>
>> strongly suggested that he objected to the slaughter on
the other<br>
>> 364 days as well. And so, the generals may have argued,
it was a<br>
>> slippery slope. Allow the troops to have a Christmas
holiday from<br>
>> killing each other, and they might begin to get even
funnier ideas.<br>
>> Next they'll be demanding Easter, then Yom Kippur and Eid
al-Fitr.<br>
>> Soon you won't be able to have a war on any day of the
year. So<br>
>> there was no official truce.<br>
>> <br>
>> However, in what was arguably one of the most morally
compelling<br>
>> acts of spontaneous mass civil disobedience in recorded
human<br>
>> history, German and British troops took matters into
their own<br>
>> hands, negotiating their own Christmas cease-fires in
their<br>
>> opposing trenches on the Western Front, exchanging
Christmas carols<br>
>> and gifts, and even playing soccer. The story is told in
the 2005<br>
>> movie, Joyeux Noel ("Merry Christmas"), which was
nominated for an<br>
>> Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006. It
would be a<br>
>> significant advance in human civilization if this movie
would take<br>
>> its rightful place alongside "Miracle on 34th Street" and
"It's a<br>
>> Wonderful Life" as standard Christmas fare.<br>
>> <br>
>> It's particularly appropriate to reflect on this history
now, as TV<br>
>> talking heads repeatedly pontificate without a shred of
evidence<br>
>> that the WikiLeaks disclosures "threaten our national
security,"<br>
>> because in its time, as Stanley Weintraub reported in his
2001 book<br>
>> "Silent Night: The Remarkable Christmas Truce of 1914<br>
>> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://books.google.com/books?id=vUKgAAAAMAAJ"><http://books.google.com/books?id=vUKgAAAAMAAJ></a>,"
not only was the<br>
>> Christmas truce considered a threat to "national
security" in the<br>
>> warring countries; even the knowledge that it had taken
place was<br>
>> initially suppressed. The /New York Times/ finally broke
the press<br>
>> blockade on December 31, 1914, after which the British
press<br>
>> followed suit.<br>
>> <br>
>> Doesn't it seem ridiculous today that news media
initially tried to<br>
>> suppress reports about the Christmas truce of 1914,
apparently in<br>
>> the belief that such information was a "threat to
national<br>
>> security"?<br>
>> <br>
>> Won't it seem ridiculous someday that people who knew
better once<br>
>> claimed that WikiLeaks was a "threat to our national
security," and<br>
>> were taken seriously?<br>
>> <br>
>> How long do you suppose that will take to occur?<br>
>> <br>
>> Merry Christmas. Let there be peace on earth.<br>
>> <br>
>> <br>
>> -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy <br>
>> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org"><http://www.justforeignpolicy.org></a> <br>
>> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org"><mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org></a><br>
</span><br>
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