Tapscott's Copy Desk - The New Appeasers

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POSTED May 20, 7:32 AM

President Bush has gotten a lot of grief from Barack Obama and others for his speech condemning appeasement before the Israeli Knesset, but Human Events editor Jed Babbin says the critics don't have a clue what they are talking about.

Notes Babbin:

"Is Obama an appeaser? Of course. But why? What is an appeaser? An appeaser may be a diplomat, but all diplomats are not appeasers. Diplomats buy and sell; appeasers just give things away. And that difference is something Barack Obama has yet to learn.

An appeaser is someone who is willing to compromise his nation’s interests without obtaining an equal or greater concession from the adversary. History’s most famous appeaser, Neville Chamberlain, gave the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Hitler in 1938 and received nothing in return. Having been appeased -- and thus given time to further build his military might -- Hitler attacked a year later, conquering Poland and igniting the largest and most murderous war in history.

In Churchill’s more literary definition, an appeaser is someone who feeds the crocodile, hoping it will eat him last."

Read the whole thing. And by the way, Babbin also has an essential book for those interested in understanding the relationship of the U.S. and China. The book's title is "In the words of our enemies."