Wake up, America, or history will repeat

November's critical election will come down to each individual voter's conclusion as to whether or not we still live in a dangerous world.

"At Dawn We Slept," by Gordon W. Prange, chronicles an isolationist, withdrawn America just before the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor. Neville Chamberlain, the author of appeasement, presented the British people with a piece of paper signed by the Austrian corporal promising "peace in our time." For the next six years, the entire world burned and tens of millions died.

Americans collectively slept through the 1990s, with full bellies and healthy 401(k)s, despite the unanswered attack on the World Trade Center, bombings at the Khobar Towers and the premeditated murder of 17 American sailors aboard the USS Cole. On Sept. 11 we paid dearly for our indifference, yet seven years later we're napping once again.

Truth be told, sitting down unconditionally with the world's tyrants armed only with a fervent "hope" for "change" will yield painfully similar results for an unsuspecting, naive America.

Lessons of history are undeniably stark and powerful. It remains to be seen if we heed them honestly or simply choose to nod off into yet another self-absorbed slumber.

William G. Parrot

McHenry