The Mark Weber Report

Third Reich Germany was a world leader in public health policy and medical research. The regime’s “war on cancer,” for example, was the most vigorous anywhere, and included restrictions on the use of asbestos, bans on carcinogenic pesticides and food dyes, and restrictions on public smoking and cigarette advertising. Years ahead of their colleagues in the US, Third Reich researchers were the first to prove definitively that smoking was the major cause of lung cancer. Hitler’s Germany was also a pioneer in promoting healthier and better quality foods, environmentalism, holistic medicine, animal welfare, and healthier living generally. Such “progressive” and socially beneficial measures were a reflection of the country’s National Socialist world view. Decades of malicious propaganda and deceitful “education,” especially in the US, have inhibited awareness of these and other Third Reich achievements.

As Israel and the Jewish-Zionist lobby in the US press for war against Iran, awareness is growing everywhere about the realities of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the harmful impact of Israel’s policies, and the crucial role of the Jewish lobby in setting US foreign policy. A bold statement by travel guru Rick Steves (“I’ve been duped”) about deceitful US media coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and a stern warning by German author Günter Grass about the danger to world peace posed by Israel, are just two recent signs that attitudes are changing, even in countries that have been subjected to decades of relentless pro-Zionist propaganda.

Decades of deceitful motion pictures have done much to produce a misinformed and compliant American public. A notable example of such film deceit is “Mission to Moscow,” a major Hollywood production made with White House backing, that portrays Soviet dictator Stalin and the Soviet Russian regime as benevlolent, peace-loving and trustworthy. Another good example is the “Why We Fight” series of documentary-style films produced by the US War Department, which have been viewed by millions. Made during World War II, these seven films use staged scenes and fake quotations to present a grossly distorted view of history and the world. Along with countless other motion pictures that likewise reflect the outlook and agenda of those who hold power in the US, these productoins promote dangerous falsehoods about modern history, including the “big lie” claim that Hitler and Third Reich Germany were bent on world conquest.

The global conflict of 1914-1918 was the most destructive military clash in history, surpassed only by World War II. The war that American historian George F. Kennan called “the original catastrophe” not only brought destruction, misery and death to millions, it shattered the seemingly secure Western world order. It broke the confidence of Europeans in themselves and their long-held values, brought down dynasties that had ruled for centuries in Russia, Austria-Hungary and Germany, and forced a drastic reassessment of cherished assumptions about life and society. The leaders of the major European countries that plunged their countries into protracted, fratricidal war were not evil or stupid men. But they were short sighted, and they badly miscalculated. The fighting ended with solemn assurances by the victorious leaders of the US, Britain and France, who then betrayed their pledges, thereby laying the foundation for an even more devastating second world war.

America’s ever more obvious cultural disintegration and social paralysis, and its erosion of national identity and purpose, are not minor or temporary problems, but are symptoms of a deep-rooted social-political illness and a systemic failure of the country’s democratic-capitalist System. In large measure, this sickness is the predictable, inevitable consequence of America’s basic ideology of “pursuit of happiness” individualism. A guiding outlook that was useful, and perhaps even necessary, in an earlier age is now a liability. The ideology laid out in the US Declaration of Independence greatly encouraged this country’s astonishing dynamism, growth, inventiveness and prosperity, especially during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. But the core outlook that once contributed to this country’s development is incapable of sustaining a stable and healthy society. Especially in recent decades, America’s “pursuit of happiness” ideology has, inevitably and inexorably, been hastening our nation’s social-political dissolution and decline

Israeli prime minister Netanyahu and the Jewish-Zionist “amen corner” in the US insist that Iran must not be allowed to acquire even the capability of developing a nuclear weapon, and they threaten war to keep that from happening. But diplomats, military leaders, scholars and specialists are warning of the catastrophic consequneces of any military strike against Iran. As US and Israeli intelligence officials acknowledge, Iran is some time away, perhaps years away, from developing nuclear weapons. And even with nuclear weapons, specialists point out, Iran would be much less dangerous than most people assume. It would not be an “existential” threat to Israel, which itself already has a large and illicit nuclear weapons arsenal. Most Americans believe — mistakenly — that Iran has nuclear weapons. Such mass ignorance is understandable, given how the US public is systematically misinformed, misguided and misled by a mass media beholden to sectarian and partisan interests, and by political leaders who put their career interests ahead of what’s good for the American people and humanity.

We’re often told that Hitler started World War II. The reality is not so simple. In early 1939, Hitler asked Poland’s leaders for a peaceful resolution of the long-standing Danzig issue by permitting the city-state to return to Germany, in accord with the wishes of its people. But the Poles rejected a diplomatic solution, confident that they would prevail in any armed clash, and emboldened by a British pledge of military support in case of war. In the months that followed, tensions between Germany and Poland worsened, with growing violence against Poland’s ethnic German minority population. As the outstanding British historians A. J. P. Taylor and B. H. Liddell- Hart, along with other scholars, have pointed out, Hitler did not want and did not prepare for a general war in 1939. He sincerely sought peace with Britain and France. US President Franklin Roosevelt secretly encouraged Britain, France and Poland to adopt belligerently anti-German policies, and to reject any peaceful resolution of the German grievances. The British and French declarations of war against Germany transformed a limited German-Polish conflict into a global war. As often happens in history, leaders in all the major countries involved badly miscalculated in 1939.

Much of what we’re told about the how World War II began is misleading, distorted or just plain untrue. It’s often claimed, for example, that after taking power Hitler moved quickly to build a large army and air force to conquer Europe. In fact, and as reputable scholars have quietly acknowledged, Third Reich rearmament in the years before the outbreak of war in 1939 was remarkably modest. Hitler neither wanted nor planned for a major war. He sincerely sought peace with Britain and France. His main motive in attacking Poland was to secure freedom and basic rights for the Germans of the city-state of Danzig, and safety and freedom for the increasingly dispossessed and persecuted minority ethnic Germans of Poland. The British and French declarations of war against Germany, which were secretly encouraged by US President Roosevelt, transformed the limited German-Polish conflict into a major, European-wide war.