On May 15, George W. Bush gave a speech to the Israeli Knesset in which he took an apparent swipe at Barack Obama's promise of diplomacy in foreign policy.
"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," Bush told his audience.
He added, "We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
So, in Bush's world, you muscle your way through life. Diplomacy is for wimps, i.e., appeasers.
Like with North Korea. You point your finger and name it as part of the "axis of evil". Tough guy.
But wait a minute. Six years later, Bush has decided to remove North Korea from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, because non-violent diplomacy has produced some desireable results.
On the other hand, when Barack Obama speaks out in favor of diplomacy as opposed to knee-jerk military action, he is accused of appeasing our enemies.
Of course, I suppose we should be used to that sort of thing by now. Besides, Obama's references to diplomacy have been in regard to heavily oil-laden Middle Eastern countries. So there is a difference.
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