Frank's Musings

False Promise of Appeasement

I fear that President Bush and his sympathizers on the Right, including the Israeli Knesset, believe that those in the world who disagree with U.S. policy would feel they had accomplished their goals by just coming to sit at a negotiation table with U.S. officials. How unsure he is of controlling such a situation. Does he really believe that spending time to talk to someone who threatens to upset his orderly system would convince observers that he has nothing better to do?

Yes, it is advisable to define the terms of such a negotiation beforehand--it is always wise to prepare well for any meeting. It is not naïve to believe that going unprepared into a meeting that you hope to achieve an objective, it is just plain stupid. It is almost as vapid an activity to meet for the sake of meeting alone as to step into the public relations trap of a rival who has no better goal to achieve than to win the allegiance of sympathizers who need nothing more than a good show to earn their support. The advantages of order far outweigh the risks of chaos.