Republicans are attempting to present Barack Obama as an appeaser for being willing to talk to nations like Iran. But Democrats are hitting back, saying Reagan - the hero of most American conservatives - talked to the 'Evil Empire' when he was President. Does that make Reagan an appeaser, asks Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria?
Both sides are being simplistic. It's not always wrong to talk to your enemies as Reagan did but it's vital to do so from a position of strength. When Reagan talked to Gorbachev it was only after he had demonstrated America's military and economic supremacy. Whether it's rogue states or terrorists, free nations should always negotiate from a position of strength. The IRA had been broken by the British Army when London started talking to his leaders. Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal recently noted that that strength was the precursor to recent progress against insurgents/ terrorists in Iraq, Sri Lanka and Colombia. Withdrawing from Iraq - undoing the gains of recent months - and expressing a preference to work through do-nothing-multilateral organisations like the UN will not help Obama appear strong. Quite the contrary.
Related link: Talking to terrorists (and a hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for the YouTube).
