Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Appeasement

This is a great and much-needed discussion of appeasement. What with Rumsfeld and Cheney bringing out that bogeyman again and again recently, some historical perspective is in order. I particularly like the points about Lyndon Johnson becoming trapped in Vietnam because he didn't want to appear like another Neville Chamberlain and about Reagan making enemies in the 1980s for holding talks with the USSR rather than confronting them militarily. It's good to remember where the fear of appeasement can lead. Don't let Rumsfeld and Co. get away with using the same bogeyman in Iran that they used in the build-up to Iraq.

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