RUTHFULLY YOURS

The philosopher George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The current global situation proves him wrong.

Take this week, for example — a biggie where commemoration is concerned. It marks 40 years since the Yom Kippur War, 20 since the signing of the Oslo Accords, and 12 since the 9/11 attacks. Though different in nature and scope, these three events share a crucial element: the refusal of Western democracies to read and interpret the Arabic writing on the wall — even when it is translated into their own languages.

In spite of all the looking back for the purpose of avoiding particular pitfalls in the future, the repetition remains in full throttle. This is both perplexing and pleasing to the enemies of the West. They are amazed at how easy it is to hoodwink Americans, Europeans and Israelis, without even having to update their rhetoric.

Nor could the despots of the world have hoped for a better patsy in the White House than Barack Obama. In one fell swoop, the U.S. president gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to two vipers whose power on the world stage was in question: Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and former KGB honcho Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was a twofer worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records.

To prevent the United States from taking military action against the Assad regime for its use of chemical weapons against its opposition, Putin — a long-time chum of the mass murderer in Damascus and his supporters and suppliers in Iran — stepped in to “broker a deal.” Like his radical-Muslim friends, who received propaganda training in the Soviet Union, Putin knows how to talk like a diplomat while loading his cannons.

This is not something that requires heeding Santayana’s warning by remembering the past. It is happening right now, in front of everyone’s eyes.

So is the fact that Putin told Assad to agree to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, and that he simultaneously warned Obama not to take unilateral action in Syria. Without the consent of the U.N. Security Council, Putin said, such “aggression” would constitute a violation of international law.

Obama’s response to this carrot-and-stick approach to the guy who catapulted himself into the leadership vacuum was not to read Santayana; it was to tell Congress to hold off on its Syria vote — to give Putin’s initiative a chance.

The skies over the Kremlin were sunny that day, but this was nothing compared to the temperature in Tehran. Not that the mullah-led regime actually fears American intervention in its nuclear program, mind you. But it’s always nice to have one’s beliefs and assessments reinforced.

On Wednesday, an emboldened Putin published an op-ed in The New York Times, appealing to the American people to oppose military action in Syria and criticizing Obama for viewing the United States as special in any way.

“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional,” he wrote. “…There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. … We are all different, but … we must not forget that God created us equal.”

While Americans were reading Putin’s heartfelt words about international law and equality, the Russian leader was in the midst of authorizing the supply of S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Iran and construction of an additional nuclear reactor at Bushehr. The details of this transaction will be worked out on Friday, when Putin flies to Tehran to meet with President Hasan Rouhani and other top officials.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Assad sent a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, requesting to join the chemical weapons convention. Since he has no intention of abiding by it, it’s no skin off his nose. Putin knows this, as does Rouhani. Obama, on the other hand, will accept it as a “diplomatic solution.” And why wouldn’t he? He is still buying Iran’s bull about negotiating a peaceful settlement to the nuclear impasse.

Santayana’s famous quote is in definite need of revision. The forces of evil remember the past and repeat it on purpose. The good guys fall under the definition of insanity attributed to Einstein: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Ruthie Blum is the author of “To Hell in a Handbasket: Carter, Obama, and the ‘Arab Spring.'”