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The League of Nations was initially nicknamed the "League of Victors" since its founding members were all members of the World War I alliance.
But throughout the turbulent 1920s, the League grew and strengthened. By 1928, even Germany was admitted into membership – albeit briefly – before Hitler ordered Germany's withdrawal in 1933.
In 1935, over the vehement objection of the League of Nations, Benito Mussolini's Fascist forces invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) in North Africa. The Abyssinians were quickly overrun by the Italians in a vicious campaign against largely undefended villages and towns.
The Italians captured Addis Ababa in 1936, forcing Emperor Haile Selassie into exile, from which he pleaded with the League of Nations to come to his nation's aid.
The League instead devised a sellout plan whereby it would divide Abyssinia into two parts: an Italian sector and an Abyssinian sector.
The plan was leaked and, although its British and French sponsors were forced to resign, the League of Nations never recovered. Within three years, the world was again at war.
After the war, it was decided that the League failed because it had no teeth to back up its collective decisions, and in 1948, NATO was created as a military bulwark against Soviet aggression. During 40 years of Cold War peace, NATO prospered. After the Cold War, NATO floundered. When the Serbs began conducting ethnic cleansing on its own borders, fearful of antagonizing the Russians, NATO hesitated until the U.S. finally took the lead.
When NATO member Turkey refused to allow the U.S. permission to cross its territory during the 2003 Iraq war, it was because NATO member states warned they would not support Ankara if Saddam retaliated by attacking Turkey.
Under Article 5 of the NATO Charter, an attack on any NATO member is deemed to be an attack on the entire alliance. The U.S. invoked that article against Afghanistan, which is why Afghanistan is a NATO operation.
Article 5 is why Georgia and the Ukraine have been seeking membership in NATO. And it is probably why NATO has withheld membership from them. It is widely assumed that, had Georgia been a NATO member state, the Russians would not dared to have invaded. In reality, there's no real basis for that assumption.
NATO is no more likely to take on Russia over Georgia than the League of Nations was to take on Italy over Abyssinia. The Europeans already know that. Now so does Washington. If the Russians show up, NATO won't.
According to the prophet Ezekiel, there will rise in "the latter times" an alliance of nations – led by Gog (Russia) and consisting of Magog (the breakaway republics now under discussion), together with an Islamic coalition of nations led by Iran – will eventually launch a sneak invasion of Israel.
This is how Ezekiel pictured the West's reaction to the Gog-Magog invasion:
"Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" (Ezekiel 38:13)
Ezekiel says that the Gog-Magog alliance will get much the same reaction from the West as the Kremlin is getting over its invasion of Georgia.
The first domino has already been pushed over. Now, its just a matter of time until the rest of them start to fall.
