As much as I despise Al Sharpton, I don't think that's quite fair.



Sharpton is, after all, trying to get the Iraqis to avoid war, not the US. The only way for Iraq to avoid war is to capitulate
.



If Sharpton is doing appeasement at all, he's attempting to appease the US by getting Iraq to give in; this is not an unworthy goal.



(Of course, to paraphrase Orwell, this probably still makes him objectively pro-Hussein, but that's a different matter than appeasement...)

All Chamberlain wanted was peace and nearly the whole world agreed with him. He came home from his meetings a hero.

While your point is taken, OJ, don't you realize the rhetorical danger of inserting Hitler into political conversation? No matter how valid such a comparison may be in a given instance -- I'm not saying how valid it is here -- it risks looking impulsive and overwrought, regardless.

Actually the parallel would be to Schellenburg, Canaris or Gehlen

(the Nazi spymasters; this is the

background of Ambassador (& NY

Times contributor;

The subordination of these Directorates/Offices remains obscure.



Directorate 3. Surveillance

Targets of the Surveillance Directorate include suspects and possible recruits. It is situated in the National Security Institute in the Jihad district of Baghdad. The Director of D3 is Brig. Mohammed Al Douri (Abu Nihad), from Dour, and the Assistant Director of D3 is Lt. Col. Subhi Ibrahim Al Jibouri, from Baiji/Al Siniya.

Subdivisions of D3.



Mobile surveillance: Close pursuit of targets with vehicles.

Foot surveillance

Stationary surveillance: Surveillance of fixed premises from a house, a kiosk or a shop.



Directorate 14. Special Operations

The Special Operations [14th] Directorate, located in Salman Pak 20 km south-east of Baghdad, is one of the most important and largest in Mukhabarat. This directorate undertakes the most secret and sensitive special operations outside the country. They were responsible for the attempted assassination against President Bush, and the assassination of Talib Al Suheil. It conducts joint operations with the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation, and undertakes training of specially selected officers for this type of operation. The current Director is Brig Nouri Al Douri (Abu Ibrahim).

Directorate 18. Iran

This directorate is responsible for the Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO). This directorate issues the orders and tasks for MKO operations in Iraq, Iran and other countries. The Director of D18 is Brig Ihsan Al Timmimi (Syed Ihsan), and the Assistant Director of D18 is Col Ali Bilal Hussein Al Dulaimi.

Directorate 21. Residency

It's not about Hitler; it's about the umbrellas. But I deny utterly the coincept that Hitler was uniquely evil and therefore no one can be compared to him without it cheapening the comparison. Our times spit forth Hitlers like there's no tomorrow--from North Korea to Vietnam to Cambodia to China to Iraq to Syria to Rwanda to Ethiopia to the Soviet Union and so on--we've had no shortage of evil leaders hellbent on exterminating their own people. Saddam is just our current iteration. The Holocaust was a horror, but it was "a" horror, not "the" horror. Its dead were no more deserving of life than the million Saddam killed.

Yet just two days ago you blithely poohpoohed the toll of burned at the stake at mere "hundreds."



It is always interesting to watch ideologues. Before long, you always find them defending the indefensible.



Somehow, on the present issue, I doubt Al is trying to get Saddam to capitulate. I rather expect he is trying to get the world to force Bush to throw in the towel.

I worry. The sympathy and understanding Reverend Al appears to be getting from this audience suggests that the "We have won" mentality is starting to creep in. (See Andrew Sullivan, "Is it Over?". )



First, it is a bit corrosive to imbue non-elected demagogues like Al (with a poor track record of forign policy acumen) with any semblance of credibility; it is even worse to do so while lending any credence to the notion of independent Iraqi decision-making (their so-called ambassadors, Parliaments, etc). Foreign policy and the pursuit of the war need no "help" from those who have been on the wrong side for so long.



Second, before we let our intellectual and policy-making guards down, consider this: Why would the Left's aim over the next few months be anything other than positioning for (if not contributing to) the eventual failure (even if not total) of the war effort? The objective is not any different than it may have been before the Elections; is just that the means will be better disguised.

Rick: The point wasn't about Hitler. The point was about Chamberlain. Take out Hitler and the German General Staff officers and put in Mussolini and some Black Shirts and the same point can be made. The only problem is that pictures of how French and British politicians appeased Italy concerning Ethiopia are exceedingly rare, while the Munich process was well documented by Goebbels's propaganda apparatus.



I think that your comment is simply seeing Godwin's Law anywhere that Hitler is mentioned. When talking about appeasement, there are few good examples outside of the twentieth century. Prior to 1930, most national leaders took their national interests more seriously than Chamberlain and Daladlier, or Al Sharpton did.

Tom:



And no one else appeased a tyrant while carrying an umbrella. It's the umbrella, dangit!

If the caption accurately conveys the nature of Mr. Sharpton's comments, then what the congressman essentially said to the Iraqi ambassador (with what I suppose one must assume are the best of intentions) is, "Honorable sir, I implore you! To avert war, slit your throat and condemn your family to a most painful death"--a message, which, judging by the expression on his face, Mr. Aldouri clearly understood.

the Left always has the best intentions, don't they?

Ok Orrin, its the umbrella, and I'm sure we can find some picture of the umbrella with Mussolini and Chamberlain. (actually I can 't think of one though)

Tom:



There's a story of Ronald Reagan being shown a different picture of Chamberlain and asking: "But, where's the umbrella?"