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HYDE PARK, N.Y.--As a guest arrives at a library in Dutchess County, an archivist takes him to a part of the library off limits to the general public.
One item on these shelves is, of all things, an English translation of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.
As a boy, the book's owner had a German governess who taught him her native tongue. The owner was familiar with the book in the original German and knew that the English translation was watered down. In the margins are notes by the book's owner.
"Is there anything you'd like to see?" the archivist asks.
The guest hails from Chautauqua County and knows that the book's owner spoke at Chautauqua Institution.
"Yes," the guest replies. "Where do you keep the 'I Hate War' speech?"
The archivist walks to a shelf, pulls out a box, and hands a manila folder to the guest.
As he reads the speech, hearing in his mind the distinctive cadence of Franklin Roosevelt, he has but one question for the archivist.
"Where do you keep the copy he read from?" the guest asks.
"It's the one in your hands," the archivist says.
Which leaves the guest in awe.
***
On that day, no one may see a speech that Roosevelt delivered to a joint session of Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, because it's in a safe that doesn't open on Sundays.
That speech, and one delivered by another president--George Bush 43--to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 20, 2001, are worth reading in the wake of Israel's equivalent of Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11.
Roosevelt's words include a prediction that "always will our whole (n)ation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
"No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.
"I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
"Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
"With confidence in our armed forces(,) with the unbounding determination of our people(,) we will gain the inevitable triumph so help us God."
Bush's words--six decades later--recall that, "In the normal course of events, (p)residents come to this chamber to report on the state of the (u)nion. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by the American people.
"We have seen it in the courage of passengers, who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground …
"We have seen the state of our (u)nion in the endurance of rescuers, working past exhaustion. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers--in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.
"My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our Union--and it is strong.
"Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger, and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done."
***
Israel understands what America understood in 1941 and 2001: When attacked--whether by tyrants, terrorists, or whomever--great nations must defend themselves lest they in effect invite further attacks.
If people outside the United States had called on America to institute a cease fire right after the Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11 attacks, such calls would have been met with, for starters, disbelief.
In that light, you, gentle reader, may select whatever labels you like for the calls from within the United States for Israel to institute a cease fire now.
The labels naive, absurd, insulting, and dangerous all come to mind.
Whichever labels you prefer, such calls--whatever their source--are wrong.
All wrong.
To paraphrase Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: America engaged in no cease fire after Pearl Harbor or Sept. 11.
Nor should it have.
Israel's very existence is at stake.
When Israel's opponents chant of what they seek "from the river to the sea," they mean from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
By removing forces that attacked Israel, Israel will do itself and the free world a service.
Americans should get out of the way.
Randy Elf was the archivist's guest at the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library.
COPYRIGHT © 2023 BY RANDY ELF