A recent question posed by my friend, and fellow historical thinker who writes under the sobriquet "Independent Voter," has posed a question on our common discussion board, The Cracker Barrel Philosophers, concerning Russia's decision to deny American astronauts shuttle service to the International Space Station by possibly not renewing the transport contract they have shared since 2011...The ultimate goal of space exploration by any nation, or any privately held enterprise is to afford suitable living conditions beyond the gravitational pull of Planet Earth...Such a quest has been imagined for centuries, but only in the last 50 years became a reality as American astronauts became the first humans to walk on the lunar surface...
This makes me wonder how different the space program might have looked if Germany's elected leader in the 1930's had not been a raving lunatic whose only goal was to populate the world with his imaginary "Aryan" race, but had still been obsessed with his idea of Liebensraum (living space) for Germans...In which direction would a peace-minded Adolf Hitler have looked if his view from Berlin had only included the surrounding European nations, plus the cold waters of the Baltic and North Seas?...Germany already existed built upon the rubble of the many smaller tribes and failed conquerors which had come and gone before, and the only untapped direction he could have found would have driven his gaze upwards and out from the bounds of gravity into outer space...
Far-thinking Germans had established the Society For Space Travel in 1927, and conducted their first successful rocket launch in 1930, three years before Hitler became Chancellor of Germany...The later famous Werner Von Braun was an early member, and later was chosen by Der Fuehrer to execute the deadly V-2 program...Fortunately for the postwar US space exploration program, Von Braun was quickly shuttled into the western side of the Iron Curtain when it came time to divvy up the pool of surviving German scientists...But had Hitler chosen to array Germany's formidable military forces in a defensive manner directed mainly at the Red Horde to the east led by the equally, if not more insane and bloodthirsty tyrant Joseph Stalin, the considerable scientific talent available to him within his own borders could have been used to leap into the areas beyond the clouds rather than set Terra Firma awash in human blood...
The concept of lunar colonization has also inspired fictional depictions, some of an entertaining nature, and others of a sadder belief in a fantasy world...An escapee from the Hitlerian hell that Germany later became, filmmaker Fritz Lang directed the silent classic of 1929, "Frau im Mond" (Woman in the Moon), which dealt with moon colonization...Television of course inspired numerous series dealing with space exploration and habitation of other planets, notably "Star Trek" and "Lost in Space"...Fiction writers have long allowed space exploration to fuel their published tales...Jules Verne, Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury have fired the imaginations of many readers, some of which went on to fulfill their dreams of stepping beyond the bounds of Earth, and into the limitless possibilities of space...
The founders of Germany's Society For Space Travel drew much of their inspiration from serving as technical consultants for Fritz Lang's work of film science fiction...Lang himself despised Nazism and all it stood for, wisely departing the country before his own Jewish family heritage could be discovered and held against him, and one of the Society's founders, Willy Ley, also successfully escaped the Nazi clutches, settling in America as a writer...Co-founder Max Valier experimented with rocket-powered cars and aircraft until one of his liquid-fueled rockets exploded on his workbench, killing him...The Society's driving force and other co-founder, Johannes Winkler, spent the remainder of his life in Germany designing rockets and RATO units for Junkers Flugzeug und Motorenwerke AG throughout the Nazi regime and until his death in 1947...The Society itself was disbanded in 1934, a year after Hitler assumed power along with his toadlings...
If however Hitler had been able to channel his energies for bloodlust and hatred for all things non-germanic into the truly innovative solution to liebensraum of populating non-earthly but inhabitable heavenly bodies, his legacy in world history might have taken an entirely different turn...Speculating on the might-have-been has more value than fueling the scripts of more Hollywood epics; it can also be used as a value lesson in combining conjecture over turning points in history with possible future opportunities, planning roadmaps for action in avoiding future calamitous wars...Successful military units always have strategic plans for all possible events, most of which are never used because only one such event presents itself...Preparation for the one which does occur is why we hypothesize over the merely possible...
If, after securing Germany's borders against a costly invasion from the east, Hitler had then seen the only real direction for expansion without bloodshed was skyward, the talent already present in Deutschland such as the previously mentioned Werner Von Braun and others in his Peenemunde V-2 team, plus the untapped ability of thinkers like Heinz-Hermann Koelle, whose flair for forward thinking was wasted as a pilot in Reichsmarschall Goering's Luftwaffe...Following the war Koelle's interest in rockets led him to re-form the Society For Space Travel, and through this association, and his attainment of a degree in mechanical engineering at the post-war University of Stuttgart, he was recommended by Von Braun to join the US Army Ballistic Missile Agency, culminating in his design for the Saturn I rocket, and its success in the Explorer and Apollo programs...
Such thinkers combined with the other aeronautical minds existing in 1930's Germany could have led to early settlement of the space frontier by humans, and secured Hitler's place in history as one of humanity's greatest leaders, instead of being remembered as a practitioner of genocide...Colonization beyond Earth's atmosphere might have become reality in his time instead of remaining a far off dream even in this day...But alas, Der Fuehrer was indeed a psychopath with a tunnel vision outlook focused only on reducing humanity to a godless, fair-skinned image with minds uniformly clouded with hatred...We can only hope to have learned the early warning signs of allowing such a costly error to go unchecked...
My friend Mike posed the following question concerning the recent attack by a suspected Islamic terrorist on a US Navy base in his own discussion board where I have participated as a member for 16 years:
"But, does it make sense to sell advanced arms to the same folks who are likely to use them against us?"
Mike, I started this reply on your board, but got so long-winded as usual, I moved it here instead...
The simplest answer is no, it does not, but bear in mind the purchasers in question are already using two of the oldest, and still most effective, weapons the world has ever known - fear and wealth...The wealth of course is a two-edged blade, and honed with fear...All gatherings of people everywhere fear the wealth of others, imagining how it can be used against them, but those in control of wealth quail at the thought of their own wealth making them a target for those jealous of those riches...They fear their own wealth can be taken away from them, as has been demonstrated by the various regime takeovers in the middle eastern histories...Thus the double-edged sword can cut against both those in front and those behind the blade...Some, the Saudis being the prime example here, are smart enough to study that history, and realize their mostly 14th century culture can't effectively manage and control a 21st century military necessary to maintain control of their treasures...I got a first-hand knowledge of this 50 years ago when the pompous and utterly ridiculous buffoon, Moammar Gaddafi made his power play in Libya...
Gaddafi (please substitute here your choice of the many westernized spellings of his name) deposed his predecessor, King Idris, a Senussi Muslim who had been chosen to wield power in Libya by the UN in 1951, before the discovery of oil within those borders...That event in 1959 changed the game permanently...The sudden wealth gushing forth caused all players to realize military power must make its presence known to prevent a bloodbath over its control...Wheelus AB, located just outside Tripoli and operated by the US Air Force, and Royal Air Base al-Adem, south of Tobruk and manned by the British RAF, were established for their strategic value in WWII following the surrender of Libya's former landlord, Italy...Wheelus gained in importance during the Cold War for its geographical positioning against the Soviet threat...My own unit, the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing, and other European USAF units, used Wheelus on a rotating TDY basis, occupying it as a show of power while training for war on the nearby bombing range east of the base developed by USAF Brig. Gen. (then Colonel) Robin Olds, of whom I have written much in the past...
The Royal Libyan Air Force, under an agreement was allowed to occupy and operate its own small part of Wheelus for maintenance and training of its own small fighter force...Please don't take the following as a racist comment, but rather an observation from one who was there...It was known at the time that even the most sophisticated young men of mideastern extraction, exposed to all the best of modern technology and teaching, were so steeped in the ancient culture of the region which was based on one of the most restrictive and narrowly focused religions the world has ever known, simply could not accept the more imaginative mindset that was necessary to command, control and maintain modern weaponry...Regardless of the quality or quantity of training afforded to Libyan and other mideastern aircrews and ground crews, many, if not most of them, simply could not grasp the concept of modern implements of war...Missiles and guns became daggers and swords...Electronic test equipment and specialized tools translated to measuring sticks and prybars...When the only tool you know is a hammer, you find that not everything responds the same way as a nail...
But it was known that under the right supervision, the best and brightest of these could perform their duties in a perfunctory manner, and with trained western observers watching every move, patiently correcting mistakes in procedure, a military unit could present a defensive and offensive presence at a minimal level...Therefore, at the time when Gaddafi executed his bloodless coup d'tat, swarms of Libyan "recruiters," with US approval prior to his making clear his true intentions, descended on European US bases to talk to trained personnel in key fields in an effort to lure them into accepting early separation from the Air Force in order to accept positions as civilian contractors in the Libyan Air Force...My own field of training in Weapons Release Systems was a critical one, and I was approached with an offer of the equivalent of $30,000.00 a year tax-free, plus housing and four weeks annual leave with paid airfare between Libya and home...This was at a time when my military pay, including separate rations, amounted to $340.00 per month before taxes...
However, the appearance and manners of the "recruiters" reminded me of nothing more than the quintessential cutthoat snake-oil salesmen of legend...I declined the offer, but I knew some who were blinded by the prospect of great pay and benefits in exchange for what they were already doing as airmen, and who accepted the offer...With the events that shortly came to pass, I have no knowledge whether any came to regret their choice of suddenly being trapped in a contract on unfriendly soil...For with a minimum of forewarning, Gaddafi ordered all NATO aligned military units to leave Libya, terminating all lease agreements between his government and ours...His goal of course was to occupy a fully operational Wheelus Air Base (later renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base and today Mitiga International Airport) from which he could expand his own area of control in the mideast...Such a plan was not to be realized however, as the Pentagon had already decided that Wheelus had lost its strategic importance, and its role as a deterrent to the Soviet threat could be better implemented in other NATO friendly locations...The exodus of the US presence from Wheelus is well documented in many sources, but what is not generally known is just how thorough it was...Gaddafi's dream of walking into his new airbase and merely powering up the air conditioning and turning on the water dissolved as the last USAF C-130 left Wheelus at 0841 hours June 11, 1970, carrying its last US commander, Col. Walter L. Russell, Jr., plus the last filing cabinets, tool boxes and mess hall supplies all bound for their next assignments...
While I was still active in the Air Force in 1969, I heard of the plans to vacate the base leaving little that still moved...One of the largest unannounced airlifts in history unfolded as C-130's, C-135's and even C-124's were loaded with the contents of every hangar, repair facility, office and living quarters on the base...Included were the important items such as electronic equipment, technical manuals and anything pertaining to aircraft maintenance and operation...What isn't generally known is that transport aircraft which still had cargo room aboard were loaded with barstools and beer taps from the on-base enlisted and officers clubs, barracks doors and even toilet seats and lids...Every item that wasn't already nailed down, plus some that were, had been placed on board every departing aircraft having enough space within its loading limits for a coffee cup, and airlifted out of Libya for possible use at its next destination...I have also heard but cannot confirm that a number of accidents occurred before the US exit concerning explosives which were kept on base for use by the civil engineers...If these third-hand reports are true, no one was hurt in the accidents, but several buildings sustained considerable damage...Brotherly Leader & Revolutionary Guide Gaddafi not only couldn't gas up a Moped, he couldn't even relieve his own bladder with what remained after the US departure...
But world politics being the cat and mouse game that it is, Gaddafi immediately gave residence to Soviet forces who brought with them a number of MiG 17, 19 and 25 fighters plus a few TU-22 medium bombers as well as an array of SAM missiles...It is my guess that the Russians soon reached a vodka-swilling level of frustration over the mostly untrainable Libyan air and ground crews...Their consolation lay in the knowledge that Libyan oil was denied to the western world, and that NATO forces had one more gun barrel pointed their way on the Mediterranean shore providing yet another shift in the ever changing balance of power...My answer to Mike's question lies in the foregoing narrative, but the short answer is unless America and its allies can sell advanced weaponry to the less troublesome of the mideastern nations, some of which harbor as much hate and fear of their own neighbors as they do the western world, then other powers such as Russia or China, which are also opposed to the astounding success of the nations which embrace democracy, will gladly exchange military weapons and technology for oil resources and a new position of power against an old adversary...
The only real advantages to selling warfare technology to those we know are ideologically opposed to us is the exchange of wealth, and the knowledge that if they turn against us, they must necessarily destroy their own purchases in combat against us...We can also take heart in the knowledge of the lightning-like speed with which technology has moved, making what sold as the latest and greatest yesterday the obsolescent and obsolete junkpile of tomorrow...In addition, since we already know what makes our military hardware so desirable by other nations, we also have a leg up on what it takes to defeat it should it be turned against us...In my opinion, the most effective way of guarding against unfriendly action by supposedly friendly factions is to limit what training they receive for the hardware they buy to facilities within their own borders, thereby limiting any opportunities for harm or the gathering of outside intelligence...It is my further estimation that any practical knowledge received by mideastern students in regard to usage of hardware or software will be negated by what I know to be their inability to advance their own skills through independent study and research...
Today marks the 78th anniversary of a craven sneak attack by a foreign power on a US Navy installation...It was perpetrated by a group who had long since made public their intentions to dominate those whom they deemed as less than human and too weak to resist...In their cowardice, they chose to strike on a day of traditional religious observance, and without a formal declaration of war...Not satisfied with the incremental advances they had made on weaker nations known to be internally divided, and unable to mount a unified defense, they chose to widen their attack with consolidated strikes against the multiple outlying targets of several sovereign nations...In doing so the assailants, and those who pulled the strings of their puppets, thought to instill such disorganized fear among their victims that retaliation would come far too late to prevent the establishment of a new, and wider power base...
Yesterday another attack was implemented by another foreign power against another US Navy base, another in a series of incremental assaults...Again this one was planned as part of a cumulative series of aggressions designed with one goal in mind - the reduction of the American way of life in which many band together from many cultures under one flag to enjoy a life of freedom and liberty...In the shade of that flag, Americans are able to clearly distinguish the other populations of the world to whom distinct, precise views of free enterprise is hidden behind curtains lowered before their eyes by those desperate to remain in power...The wish to share the freedom of democracy is seen by the tyrants who wish to retain their power, whether in the guise of theology, various forms of socialism, outright slavery or any other ideology, as the main threat to their retention of that power...
The strikes against America since WWII have come from many directions and in many guises...But our myriad of enemies, all hungry to either gain or retain power, have learned from their own studies that military might alone will not topple our nation, not when directed from a distinct and recognizable source such as a sovereign nation with definable borders...The powerful now pull their strings from behind the shadows of hatred with the assistance of those who fancy themselves as journalists, political "leaders," business people, clergy and most important of all, the gullible and disillusioned idealists who imagine they are paving the road toward a better world...
But they are all drawn by the same magnet of power and wealth, and all follow the same path of destruction as their predecessors in history...The only real question remaining is how many more times can history be repeated before either the lesson is learned, or no one is left to learn?...
I am not a fan of booze, and I'm well soaked in memories of its effects, not only the temporary and long-term physical consequences, but also the accompanying financial and psychological burdens borne by those with little or no control over their own intake...The latter issues must also be endured and contended with by the imbiber's family, and everyone else of a social or professional acquaintance...To be precise, this is not to imply that every person who allows alcohol to pass his or her lips will become a blubbering drunk like I was with no concept of how disgusting I appeared to others...In my own family examples exist to confirm all extremes, and every level between them...My only brother could hold his own in any drinking exhibition with me or any other participants...He began drinking at an earlier age than I did, yet he did not become dependent on it as his older brother did...On occasion he could drink to the point of losing any vestige of self control, but at other times he could consume one mixed drink, or one beer as a perceived social obligation, and then resume his normal course of life with no further thought of alcohol...
My mother never in her life took her first drink...She had no desire for it at any time...Yet she watched her father and her brothers drink to varying degrees of intemperance, and sadly buried her younger brother at an early age because he allowed his uncontrolled thirst for alcohol to become the centerpoint of his existence...I have written of him in my published books, and regret to this day that I not only failed to take note of his example, but that alcoholism robbed him of his life, and took from the nation he helped defend any further contribution he could have made to national success...The man my Mom chose to marry and with whom she would share the remainder of life, was also a drinker...I do not know the increments by which he allowed alcohol to increasingly strengthen its grip on his life, but I do know that it lasted more than 40 years, and in that time wrecked his liver...In the course of time he came to realize the enormous price he had paid to do what he thought was required of all men in his position, to flow with the crowd on a river of drink in order to be successful in his chosen field, and to provide the best living possible for his family...
At the age of 60, the consensus of several doctors confirmed that his thinking that his body could overcome what he had always heard that alcohol could do, was wrong...His liver had become irreparably damaged, and was causing other parts of his body to weaken and fail...Ulcers developed in his esophagus causing blood to drain into his stomach, congealing there to cause painful blockages in his digestive tract...This necessitated several trips to the ER, followed by time consuming hospital stays before his condition could be temporarily stabilized...Due to the fortuitous existence of excellent medical insurance, the science of gastroenterology was advanced by a considerable degree just from what they learned by working on my Dad...Sadly the best they could do was extend his life in some comfort for another 12 years during which Dad never again took another drink in any form...His lesson was finally learned, but in the end his damaged liver took his life in painful misery as his own family watched in helplessness...
His oldest son gained the value of that lesson shortly after my Dad...Prior to his decision to stop his own drinking, I had begun my journey down the path of alcoholism, taking 12 years to reach the bottom...The self-imposed destruction of my first marriage, and the irretrievable decision of my first wife to salvage what was left of the remainder of her life and that of her children finally shocked me into making the determination to quit...Although I may have packed nearly as much alcohol consumption into my shorter drinking career than my Dad did in his 40+ drinking years, I was fortunate enough to avoid his cirrhotic fate as my own liver is healthy even today...However, the ancillary addiction to tobacco combined with the alcohol to leave lasting damage to my heart and circulatory system...Dad reached the same decision as I did to end the cigarette habit at the same time with the alcohol addiction...By the Grace of God, both our lives will be said by future generations to have ended having escaped the grip of both dependencies...
Today my own life has been immeasurably improved and lengthened by freeing myself from the voluntary slavery of alcohol and tobacco 42 years ago...I am positive my Dad thanked God daily for finally opening his eyes, and surely wished it had occurred many years earlier...I curse my own decision to take my first drink at the age of 18...I did it because I was convinced it was my step into adulthood, and acceptance into the adult world...I have no idea whether careful thought and consideration of the consequences, or deliberate study of those around me would have altered that decision, but I do know that until I stepped over that brink, and into the abyss, I did not know that I was predisposed to the addiction it became...I only know of the harm it caused, and the costly struggle it took to break the bonds, as well as the never-ending vigilance to avoid another fall...
On our separate ways, my Dad and I both achieved our goals through self-determination...By that I mean we each took the "cold turkey" method, leaving a lifetime habit behind and never looking back...I thank God every day for our decisions, and His help in staying the course...I also know there are other, and probably better ways to regain one's control over life...The 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous has helped many to quit the path to uselessness...The basic tenets of this method are so successful it has been adapted to fit many other addictions, allowing countless individuals to attain their goals of sobriety and freedom from the merciless grips of the monsters waiting beneath the narrow footpath of life...The almost invisible hands are waiting to help those who need it to regain control of their own existence in any direction they might turn...Exemplary of this, I recall being on a Caribbean cruise after many years of sobriety, where the abundance of alcohol offered its temptation at nearly every turn...And yet for those who needed, signs were posted in many locations, stating simply that "Friends Of Bill Meet Here"...Help is always available for those who are ready...I can only hope that this narrative will not go unnoticed by others who might see their own image in my mirror...Anyone who might benefit by my experience is not only welcome, but urged to contact me...
