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WASHINGTON, April 28, 2006 – Diplomacy remains America's choice in dealing with Iran, President Bush said today. "We're forming a strong coalition of like-minded countries that believe that the Iranians should not have a nuclear weapon," he said during a White House press conference. "And I've told the American people that diplomacy is my first choice, and it should be the first choice of every American president in order to solve a very difficult problem." "It's very important for the Iranians to understand there's a ... common desire by a lot of nations of this world to convince them, peacefully...

It is easy to damn the 1930s appeasers of Hitler — such as Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain in England and Edouard Daladier in France — given what the Nazis ultimately did when unleashed. But history demands not merely recognizing the truth post facto, but also trying to reconstruct the rationale of something that now in hindsight seems inexplicable. Appeasement in the 1930s was popular with the European public for a variety of reasons. All of them are instructive in our hesitation about stopping a nuclear Iran, or about defending the right of Western newspapers to print what they wish...

Jens Byskov holds up a sign apologizing to Muslims in front of the Danish parliament building in Copenhagen, Denmark Tuesday Feb. 14, 2006 for cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper late last year. The uproar over the Prophet Muhammad cartoons was Denmark's biggest foreign policy challenge since World War II, the prime minister said Tuesday. (AP Photo/John McConnico) guess we can all go home now, jens there gots it all figured out

Council bans Australian flag January 02, 2006 PLANS to fly Australian flags over the famous Bondi Beach pavilion were vetoed because of fears the symbols could incite more racial violence on Sydney's beaches. In a decision met with outrage from locals, returned servicemen and ethnic groups, Waverley Council voted 6-5 against the proposal, declaring the popular beach should remain clear of flags to "remove provocation"...

As Israel struggled Thursday to evacuate the Gush Katif settlements, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it must take further steps. "Everyone empathizes with what the Israelis are facing," she said in an interview with The New York Times. But, she added, "It cannot be Gaza only." Rice said this is "really quite a dramatic moment in the history of the Middle East," and praised Sharon for proving himself "enormously courageous." According to the Times, Rice said that while the withdrawal would take several weeks, Israel must take further steps soon afterward, including loosening travel restrictions in the West...

Tonight, when "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" descends upon bookstores, millions of children will flutter in delight. But the sixth entry in the franchise may well please discerning adults, too. ...snip... In the fifth book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," something interesting happened. The author, J.K. Rowling, abandoned the mystery genre and gave her readers something more challenging: a historical allegory. Through sleight-of-hand, Ms. Rowling took a children's book and transformed it into a parable about 1930s England. We've heard a lot recently about London and the Blitz. Ms. Rowling's unfolding saga may illuminate that dark...

Thursday, June 16, 2005 The European Union: Channeling the Spirits of Chamerblain and Pétain An Associated Press report tells us that the European Union has renewed contacts with Hamas despite strong Israeli objections. It seems the E.U. is even considering reviewing whether or not to continue to consider Hamas a terrorist group. Tell me this: how many suicide bombings, Qassam rocket attacks, shootings, and other forms of murder of innocent civilians are required before a group is permanently branded a terrrorist group? If such attacks are ongoing (and they are) why would anyone in their right mind consider Hamas anything...

NEW YORK The relationship between the United States and China is beset by ambiguity. On the one hand, seven presidents have affirmed the importance of cooperative relations with China and a commitment to a one-China policy.   Nevertheless, ambivalence has suddenly re-emerged. Various U.S. officials, members of Congress and the news media are attacking China's policies, from the exchange rate to military buildup, much of it in a tone implying that China is on some sort of probation.   Before continuing on this subject, I must point out that the consulting company I chair advises clients with business interests around...

NEW IPSWICH - In the latest twist of his public battle against illegal immigrants, Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain has taken what may be a unique legal approach: He has charged a man from Mexico with criminal trespass because he was in town without legal documents. As defined in state law (RSA 635:2), a person is guilty of criminal trespass “if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place.” “If we’re going to have immigration, it needs to be controlled and we need to know what’s happening on our borders. Nobody...

Any one of you who have followed the contest over judicial nominations have missed a lot if you have missed Hugh Hewitt's website. To catch up on what's going on with the filibuster, and how the present sad excuse for Republican leadership is failing the rank and file, please click on the link provided above. However, I have a modest proposal. For all the differences that I have had with many of you over Condi Rice and other things, I suspect that we all share a passionate disgust when the subject of Bush's judicial nominations are raised. These are...

March 20, 2005 will mark the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The war lasted only three weeks before Saddam dropped out of sight and into a spider-hole... but for some hopefuls, it will never end. I'm not talking about the Ba'athist thugs who plot and struggle to regain the power -- built on fear and murder -- that they held over the Iraqi people for so long. I'm talking about the looney anti-war Left, who will spend the next few weeks continuing to protest a war that toppled a dictator, ended decades of evil tyranny and brutality, freed...

British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain accuses Adolf Hitler of breaking his word after German troops crossed the Czech frontier.

After talking with some left-wing friends this weekend, I realized now more than ever that the question of whether to vote for Bush or Kerry truly boils down to another question, “A war for our lives, or a nuisance to our lifestyle?” The later question was asked on Friday by eminent historian Victor David Hanson. He answers it with honesty and erudition, but leaves out a very important point: the fear factor. Hanson correctly identifies Kerry et al’s penchant for wanting to solve our foreign policy disputes through diplomatic bureaucracy ad nauseum -- e.g., the United Nations. He hints at...

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 Posted at 4:00 PM, and updated thereafter. Bush-Cheney '04 senior strategist Matthew Dowd on CNN's Inside Politics earlier today: "I think fundamentally, this is going to be a race that is a choice, and I think what you see even in the Gallup poll, your poll, when you ask them on the important issues "Who do you trust more, who do you trust more to deal with Iraq?" the public trusts the president more; "Who do you trust more on the war on terror?" the public trusts the president more; even on the economy which has...

Today is Thursday, Sept. 30, the 274th day of 2004. There are 92 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Sept. 30, 1938, British, French, German and Italian leaders decided to appease Adolf Hitler by allowing Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland.

The Letter to the Editor Campaign continues "The way we live in peace in a family, in a marriage, in the world, is not by threatening people, is not by showing off your muscles. It's bylistening, by giving a hand sometimes, by being intelligent, by being open and by setting high standards," she said at the CSU rally" Teresa Heinz Kerry comments

The man who claims to have shot the dingo that killed Azaria Chamberlain had a change of heart about keeping his secret about a year ago after a serious accident that brought him face to face with his own mortality, a neighbour says. Bert Fraser, who lives near Frank Cole in Pascoe Vale in suburban Melbourne, said: "Frank was fixing tiles on his roof and the ladder slipped from under him. He fell across a trailer and smashed his hip and leg. He went to hospital and when he was coming out of anaesthetic he told his son, Don, about...

“With the benefit of minute hindsight, Saddam Hussein wasn’t the kind of extra-territorial menace that was assumed by the administration one year ago. If I knew then what I know now about what kind of situation we would be in, I would have opposed the war.” Those words are William F. Buckley’s, from an article in yesterday’s New York Times marking Buckley’s decision to relinquish control of the National Review, the flagship journal of the conservative movement he founded 50 years ago. Also out on the newsstands now, in The Atlantic Monthly, is an essay Buckley wrote describing his decision...

Saturday May 11, 1940 The Guardian Mr. Chamberlain resigned the Premiership last night and has been succeeded by Mr. Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Following is the official statement:- The Right Hon. Neville Chamberlain, M.P., resigned the office of Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury this evening and the Right Hon. Winston Churchill, C.H., M.P., accepted his Majesty's invitation to fill the position. The Prime Minister desires that all Ministers should remain at their posts and discharge their functions with full freedom and responsibility while the necessary arrangements for the formation of a new Administration...

Over the years a revulsion against any kind of "power politics" has come to trump whatever revulsion post-Auschwitz Europe might feel about mass murder. That's why the EU let hundreds of thousands of Bosnians and Croats die on its borders until the Americans were permitted to step in. That's why the fact that thousands of Iraqis are no longer being murdered by their government is trivial when weighed against the use of Anglo-American military force required to effect their freedom. "Never again" has evolved to mean precisely the kind of passivity that enabled the Holocaust first time round. "Neville again"...