Terrible If's Acculate. . .

(Terrible If's Accumulate. . .)

On August 4th, 1914, just before the "Guns of August" opened up on what would become the Western Front, there was an odd episode. The Ottoman Empire, by that point the Sick man of Europe, made purchase of a pair of German cruisers, the Goeben and the Breslau. The two ships sortied from Taranto and over the next week, sailed to the coast of French North Africa, shelled positions there before returning to Sicily. After coaling, Goeben and Breslau, made their way into the Adriatic on the way to the Dardanelles and then on to Constantinople, the Ottoman Capitol.


In any event, the Royal Navy gave chase but the ships were never engaged with result. The failure to prevent this technology transfer would have consequences in subsequent actions at Gallipoli, The then First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill who was to author the Gallipoli disaster. But it was beyond that. The two cruisers did not reach Constantinople till October, 1914 but it generated Turkey's active belligerency, which led to escalations in Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania. And a southern Front with Russia. It was Churchill's lament that "if" Goeben and Breslau had been intercepted.


So-called "terrible ifs" were common in the First World War. Terrible ifs could be manifest today. For example, what if Donald Trump survives ? What if in coming testimony a more accurate assessment is made of the 2020 Election ? What if there were voting irregularities in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin ? Was this all election interference ?


Of course. There had to be. There will also need to be interference of some type against the former President for next year. These Pages have chronicled the infrastructure that placed President Biden in Office in the first place and there is every expectation that will remain in place, even if Joe Biden is discarded as the Nominee. But what the latest attempt to charge Trump has done is to allow the former President to re-litigate the whole episode.


The Trump team will be able to depose witnesses. The ex-President will be able to plead his case on a dual track while his legal experts will digest a variety of charges. All that being said, Trump will be facing an endless pursuit as indictment after indictment will be leveled. So, how is this for a terrible if ? What if Donald Trump is re-elected President ?

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