“TO IGNORE HISTORY IS TO IGNORE THE WOLF AT THE DOOR.”
― John le Carré, A Most Wanted Man
I can compel myself to forgive people for not knowing history, or forgetting events that happened 50 or 70 or 100 years ago. But to forget what happened 16 years ago, when we are talking about events that changed our world and which consequences we still live with today, is unconscionable! More so when we are not talking about tenuous similarities, but an almost word perfect reproduction by the original cast.
2002:
Benjamin Netanyahu speaking to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in the U.S. House of Representatives on September 12 2002. Explaining how Iraq is accumulating weapons of mass destruction, and is posing a clear and imminent threat to the region, the USA, and to world peace.
2018:
Benjamin Netanyahu speaking in Tel Aviv on April 30 2018. Explaining how Iran is accumulating weapons of mass destruction, and is posing a clear and imminent threat to the region, the USA, and to world peace.
In 2002, John Bolton was one of the most ardent cheerleaders of the invasion of Iraq, a stance he remains singularly unapologetic for to this day. And here he is again, 16 years on, cheering for a strike against Iran.
In 2002, the IAEA said it could find no evidence of WMDs. The US government refused to accept their findings.
In 2018, the IAEA says it finds Iran in compliance with the agreement. The US government refuses to accept their findings.
In 2002, France and Germany led initiatives to try and discourage the US from taking military action.
In 2018, France and Germany led pleas to the US government to not abandon the treaty.
If only we could learn from history, learn from our past mistakes,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
— Wilfred Owen