Monday, May 19, 2008

What does appeasement mean?

"Appeasement is a policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. Usually it means giving into demands of an aggressor in order to avoid war. " Wikipedia definition.

Appeasement during WWII meant Great Britain handing over Czechoslovachia to Hitler in 1938 via the Munich Pact. Today it means saying you will talk to Iran without demanding they build a McDonalds on every city block or sell Grand Theft Auto IV at the street market. President Bush talked to Gaddafi, Musharraf, and Kim Jung Il, but not Ahamadinejad. Iran is the only one still pissing us off and yet we continue to refuse to talk with them in any meaningful way. We could easily bomb Iran back to the stoneage so if we are not going to talk to them what are we waiting for?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Personally, I don't believe we aren't talking to Iran already. The rhetoric and posturing has fallen off sharply on both sides. While it may have been a simple recognition that neither side really wants war, it is hard for me to accept that there hasn't been any negotiation through so-called "back channels".

Obama just wants to make these negotiations official, public, and at the highest level. I hope he gets his chance. But I think it's rather a stretch to believe we aren't already talking to one of the most important oil producing countries in the Middle East.