Winston Churchill

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IRAQJ...
Mr. Shepherd:
If I follow the argument correctly, countries susceptible
to sanctions would have to include mostly, or at least
characteristically, peaceful countries with a tendency to or
leaning toward democracy; or without an entrenched predisposition
to war, or readiness to fight; or regimes engaged
in domestic wrongdoing (but excluding the Confederacy
in I860 and Hitler's Germany in the 1930s)? I
believe there is a danger in being too dismissive of the
power of economics. Some of America's "founding fathers"
wrote about the power of commerce and economic
self-interest in moderating the effects of a fanatical or warlike
spirit. A generation later, Alexis de Tocqueville said
similar things in greater depth.
As an example of the success of sanctions against a
warlike country, consider the evolution of Vietnam since
the mid-1980s, which has been more favorable, from the
Western standpoint, than during the wars fought to promote
that evolution from the 1940s to the mid-1970s.
Vietnam reminds me of Aesop's fable of the Sun and the
Wind, arguing who was the stronger—which could make
the man remove his coat. The Wind blew and blew and
only made the man clutch his coat tighter. The Sun benignly
shone his mild, mellow warmth and the man took
off his coat. The moral was that fierceness and belligerence
are sometimes less effective than patience and steadiness.
With Vietnam, according to some commentators,
there has indeed been a radical, though gradual, change in
behavior, despite its previous predisposition to war and
conquest, whether in self-interest and self-determination
(as when they invaded Cambodia to stop the Killing
Fields of Pol Pot in the late 1970s). The Vietnamese
proved not immune to the profit motive, and their desire
for prosperity ultimately outlasted their Communist fundamentalism.
Now we are seeing similar discussions about Cuba.
They didn't mind being outcasts and pariahs as long as
the Soviet Union was doling out largesse. Today it's a different
story. The Pope was allowed to come and lecture
and scold, and he was still thanked profusely for just coming.
Maybe even the Cuban rulers were acknowledging,
however obliquely, the truth of the Pope's criticisms.
Editor's note: If we may now play the devil's advocate: so
would the Churchillian policy with respect to Iraq be simply
a period of "benign neglect," in Kissinger's phrase? And what
if that gives them enough time to develop a missile filled with
typhus, and the means to deliver it? Reader comment is invited.
$
Recipes from No. 10
by Georgina Landemare (the Churchill Family Cook, c. 1940s-50s)
Updated and annotated by Barbara Langworth
13 OCTOBER 1940...
As the raid continued and seemed to grow in intensity we put on our tin
hats and went out to view the scene from the top of the Annexe buildings.
Before doing so, however, I could not resist taking Mrs. Landemare and
the others from the shelter to see their kitchen. They were upset at the
sight of the wreck, but principally on account of the general untidiness 1 .
—WSC, Their Finest Hour
Tournedos Montpensier (serves six)
6 short paste' tartlets, pie crust dough tartlets, or purchased tarts
6 beef fillets (tenderloin) about 2 1/2 lbs total
1 bundle of small asparagus
6 pats of green butter
Cut off the points of the asparagus and cook in salted water,
strain and put in a little melted butter. Place a few of these tips
in each tartlet.
Melt 2 Tb butter and 2 Tb oil. Tie each fillet with a piece of
string to prevent spreading. Cook for 3 minutes each side, and
then place one in each tartlet. Top with green butter.
Mrs. Landemare's
short
paste:
1 1b plain flour
(about 4 cups)
12 oz butter
(3 sticks)
salt
squeeze of
lemon juice
Rub the butter well into the flour, mix with a very small
amount of water and lemon juice. Form into a past.e.
2 - Green Butter
Mix 6 Tb (3 oz) softened butter with a generous Tb of
finely chopped parsley, a little lemon juice and salt and
pepper. For a more decorative garnish use a large star tip
and pipe in a circle. |
FINEST HOUR IOI /28