Thursday, May 15, 2008
The False Comfort of Appeasement
President Bush took a covert jab at Senator Obama today as he spoke to the Israeli Parliament. "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along." Bush was speaking to Knesset during the 60th celebration of Israel's independence. He went on to add, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is—the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." The President's press secretary denied any reference to Obama, but the intent is clear. For his part, Barack punched back saying "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel." Ahem, what about saying you would meet with Hamas and the leadership of Iran? Those count as terrorists in my book. The politics of fear? This line is gibberish! Tell the Israeli citizens about fear. They are the ones blown up by homicide bombers and rocket attacks. Instead of the politics of fear, let's call it what it is for them - living daily in fear. Middle East maps that hang in the government buildings do not show the state of Israel. That is because they plan on there not being one. Get real Barack. Your foreign policy experience amounts to being schooled in another country, where they obviously didn't teach you the history of the second World War.