Having lived in Europe twice and having "hopped the pond" almost 30 times now, I have to admit a deep and undying affection for the place.  Sit me down at a cafe in the Latin Quarter, or in a pub in Covent Garden, or give me a chance to listen to a classical quartet playing for spare change on the banks of the Danube, and I'd be quite content to while away an hour or a day.

At the same time, however, I must admit a deepening rift between my feelings -- and memories -- of Europe, and my growing disdain for how Europe as a whole is choosing to deal (or not to deal, as the case may be) with the threats we now face.  From my vantage point, the world is a scary place right now. We fight an enemy who genuinely defies any notion of human diginity, who operates under a code of behavior that is better suited to the Middle Ages, and who enjoys all kinds of state-sponsored support thoughout the Islamic world. Further, this is an enemy who stops at nothing -- not even self-immolation -- in the pursuit of their ends, however depraved and misguided they may be. As I've written previously, this is no less a struggle for our very lives, against an enemy determined to destroy not only our capacity to wage war against them, but our very existance as a people.

You would think that Europe, of all places, would understand this kind of threat; having watched with barely a peep as Hitler built his arsenal of murder and destruction during the 1930s, and having stood by while Stalin purged the Soviet hinterland of millions who might dare think for themselves, Europe should surely recognize the kind of depravity we face now. Afterall, Europe saw first-hand 6 million Jews go to Hitler's ovens in the name of ethnic superiority.  Of all the places in the world to be attuned to the threat of radical movements intent on genocide, Europe must surely be the place.  Right?

Sadly, Europe has fallen again into a rabbit hole, that dream world of Alice's making filled with paradox, the absurd and the improbable. Out of Brussels and the capitals of Germany and France comes a steady stream of wishful thinking about the nature of the threats we collectively face: Terrorism, islamic radicalism, Iran, Hamas and yes, Hezbollah. In Europe's looking glass, it is American "imperialism" that is mostly to blame for terrorism, the United Nations still holds the credibility and wisdom necessary to deal with the problems in the Middle East, and the current Israeli aggression against Hezbollah and the "poor citizens of Lebanon" is very much the problem, not the solution. Forget the fact that Hezbollah, armed to the teeth with Iranian weapons, sits across a narrow strip of land from Israel's Northern border, threatening its security with long-range missiles capable of hitting the whole of the nation -- a threat, incidentally, that no European nation would find acceptable to live with.

It has become axiomatic that in Europe's collective view, any solution to any problem in the Middle East begins with the assumption that Israel is the aggressor against the "poor, oppressed Arabs". Under pressure, Israel has largely been in retreat over the past decade: out of Lebanon, out of Gaza, out of the business of ensuring its security whatever the cost.  And now, as it attempts to defeat Hezbollah (again), its hands have been tied by the cowardice of world (and especailly European) opinion; instead of the Israeli Defense Force that has previously defeated the Arabs with ruthless determination, we now have an IDF that is unwilling to attack with the force needed to assure a decisive victory.  Not even Israel is immune to the pernicious drum beat of appeasement.

For those who choose to remember history, this should sound familiar: concede ideas, ideals and territory to the enemy in exchange for a promise (real or imagined) of peace. This is the devil's deal that Europe made with Hitler in the late 1930s; turning a blind eye to Germany's (illegal) military build-up, and then allowing the Third Reich to annex the Sudetenland with nary a protest among Europes frightened elite. Give in to his demands and he'll go away, right?

Sadly, Europe makes the same mistake today. The crucial difference is that this enemy makes no bones about their stated intention: the total destruction of our way of life. Even in the face of such certitude, Europe waffles in their wonderland.