In a speech to the Israeli Knesset yesterday, President Bush touched off a small political controversy back home when he said:

"Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is--the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. "

Was this a reference to Senator Barack Obama's statements that America should seek dialogue with enemies? Obama thought so. And so did Senator Hillary Clinton.

Obama said, "Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power--including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy--to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists."

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, "We have a protocol, sort of a custom, informally around here that we don't criticize the president when he is on foreign soil. One would think that that would apply to the president that he would not criticize Americans when he is on foreign soil."

More

• Reaction to Bush "appeasement" remark, from Reuters
• Dems fire back at Bush on 'appeasement' statement, from CNN
• Obama clashes with Bush in Nazi appeasement, from The Times of London
• McCain Agrees With Bush’s Remarks on Appeasement, The Caucus Blog from The New York Times

UPDATE: A White House spokesperson implies President Bush's remarks about appeasement were aimed at Nobel Peace Prize winner, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.