James Baker: Talking To An Enemy Is Not Appeasement

A clip of former Secretary of State James Baker has been making the rounds recently, as a result of the current 'appeasement' debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. Unfortunately for McCain, Baker agrees with Obama. And even though the interview is from this past October, Baker addresses head-on the issue of appeasement, saying:

"Diplomacy involves talking to your enemies. You don't reward your enemies necessarily by talking to them if you are tough and you know what you are doing. You don't appease them. Talking to an enemy is not in my view appeasement."

Video here.

(NOTE: James Baker wrote the forward for Elias Chacour's Blood Brothers. Chacour is the Palestinian Archbishop of Galilee for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and founded a successful interfaith school in the Israeli village of Ibillin. As an outspoken advocate for nonviolent change in Israeli society, Chacour has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times.)