The beasts

And the wind from the east

THE LESSON from debate class, or one of the lessons, is never to compare your opponent to the Nazis. (If they aren’t actually Nazis.) For once you’ve done that, you’ve indicated that you really don’t have an argument; you’re out of ammo, and have resorted to playground name-calling. The guy at the neighboring podium who is taking the other side of the issue on, say, vaping, isn’t in the same category of the fascists who ran Germany from 1933-1945.

The Russians haven’t learned that lesson.

For a country that invaded a neighbor, set off protests (and abandonments) in its own country, and stuffed many of its young men into a meat-grinder, the Soviets—sorry, Russians—sure do like to compare the defenders to Nazis.

Maybe “compare” is the wrong word. These leaders in Moscow seem to want us to believe that real, live, honest-to-goodness Nazis are running loose in Ukraine and elsewhere, all intending on harming the innocent invading army.

After weeks of discussion, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom have decided to send tanks to Ukraine. It was a request by Ukraine’s (Jewish) president. Germany will send 14 Leopard tanks, UK will send 14 Challenger tanks, and the U.S. will send 30 Abrams, according to dispatches. And on hearing the news, the Russians . . . . Lost their minds.

The Daily Beast’s Allison Quinn reports this message from the Russian Embassy in Berlin: “Berlin’s decision signifies the unequivocal refusal of the Federal Republic of Germany to recognize historical responsibility to our people for the terrible, timeless crimes of Nazism.”

From a spokesflack at the Kremlin: “After a flogging by Washington, Germany will send 14 tanks to Ukraine. Closer to summer, deliveries of gas chambers are also expected.” Yikes.

It gets worse. Or at least more bizarre. Ms. Quinn reports that Sergei Markov—a political operative in Russia who once advised Vladimir Putin—had this to say about a tank conspiracy:

“14 Challenger tanks will be supplied by Britain to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And it was also announced that Germany will supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with 14 Leopard tanks. Is this some kind of secret number they have, 14? It turns out yes—14 is a secret fascist number.”

Why? Because the late, not-so-great American and famous neo-Nazi David Lane once had a slogan that was 14 words long.

“Thus, the number of Challenger and Leopard tanks is a secret message from the governments of Britain and Germany: ‘We know that these tanks are for the Nazis,’” Mr. Markov wrote.

That’s a stretch. In fact, we think we’ve pulled both hamstrings.

The rot goes all the way to the top. Vlad the Impaler has been accusing neo-Nazis of running the show in Ukraine since before his invasion. It’s a way for the former KGB spy and Soviet Union apologist to stir the emotions of his people. Some of whom might actually believe him.

Speaking of the old Soviet Union, the best war movie you’ve never seen is called “The Beast.” Released in 1988, it tells the story of a Soviet tank crew lost in the outback of Afghanistan in the early 1980s as they try to find their way back to Soviet lines. The commander of the crew is an old Nazi fighter from World War II.

In only one of this movie’s many memorable scenes, a soldier looks around at what has happened to them, and what they’ve done, and what they’ve become, and asks his commander:

“How is it that we’re the Nazis this time?”