John Robson: Once Again, Our Leaders Are Ignoring Lessons From History

Commentary On to Berlin! There’s the battle cry, and rightly so. But our leaders are too busy editing delusional press releases, so history passes them by. Or rolls over them… and us. In the National Post on May 13, Joe Roberts wrote, “The allies could never have won the Second World War by making clear they would stop short of Berlin.” He was drawing a historical analogy with Israel pressing into Rafah, seeking “complete and uncompromising” victory over Hamas. And while historical counterfactuals are as tricky as they are vital, we know all too well he was right. If you’re wondering how Berlin got in here, it’s one of those historical analogies useless to politicians who don’t know which side the Soviets were on in World War II, what happened in that conflict, or when. But here’s the deal. In the summer and fall of 1918… no wait, our leaders cry. That was World War I… wasn’t it?...