Talking Ain't Appeasement!

George Bush recently caused quite a stir when speaking to the Israeli parliament -- the Knesset -- seemed to take a swipe at Barack Obama. Bush suggested that talking to Iran was tantamount to appeasement -- the kind of appeasement that allowed Hitler to take over much of Europe and commit genocide. Of course Israeli's understand genocide, with the Jewish people having suffered bearing the brunt of Hitler's infamous plan. The first question is whether Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the moral equivalent to Adolph Hitler. It's true that the Iranian President is a blowhard who regularly talks of wiping Israel off the map and Iran has its fingers in several pots, including Iraq, but Barack Obama hasn't suggested he would give Iran anything that would harm Israel or the US. He does recognize, however, that Iran is now a major player in the Middle East. It's not a two-bit dictatorship like even North Korea, but a significant power in the region. Iran, unlike some other countries, has the rudiments of a democracy. It's kept under control by the religious leadership, but the people are growing restless and there is little mood within the populace for war.

What is disappointing is that George Bush, who has done remarkably little to engage the Israeli-Palestinian issue now goes before their Parliament and pretends to be Israel's protector. He could have done a lot more for both Israeli and Palestinian had he engaged this process in 2001 or 2002 rather than now.

Let's get the facts right! That goes for George and for his heir apparent -- John McCain.