"better to jaw-jaw than to war-war"

It is "better to jaw-jaw than to war-war" so say the appeasers, quoting Winston Churchill's words from 1954. Everyone is capable of reforming many of the same people say about some vile person who is to be released from prison.


That's an item from the New York Times of 21 December 1924 marking the release on parole from prison in Germany of Adolph Hitler. Adolph Hitler had been imprisoned in April of that year for 5 years for conspiring to overthrow the Weimar government. He was released as part of a general amnesty. The paper reports how :

"His behaviour during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political organization... was no longer to be feared."

The article ends with one of the most inaccurate predictions ever :

"It is believed he will retire to private life and return to Austria, the country of his birth."

I wonder if people really expect the leaders of Hamas, Hizballah, Fatah, Iran, Syria, al-Qaeda etc. etc. etc. to be tamed by our appeasement and so to abandon public life and go back to their homes and live in peace.