If Chamberlain proved just one thing; he proved there's just no way to appease a dictator, who worked Chamberlain by asking for and getting more and more!

All while a completely unrealistic and hopelessly idealistic Chamberlain waffled on about peace in our time; and became a broken man when it was clear we had to get into yet another world war to get it!

I don't believe President Obama is anything like Chamberlain, but rather very much a speak softly but carry a big stick man!

Even so, he recognizes that the world is war weary, or that there are no winners in any war, just losers; and why should he sacrifice young American lives to try and achieve peace?

Or that those creating all the tensions and unrest, have done so for hundreds if not thousands of years; with never a real prospect of real enduring peace, just time to rearm and rebuild capacity!?

Why would any right minded person want to hop into the middle of that; and without an exit strategy? But particularly if the only exit strategy has to include a couple of well placed nukes, that take out so called friends and foe alike?

Even now, we are talking about the current conflict with ISIL as a hundred year war?

So which western Leader is going to commit to that and why should they?
Rhrosty.

I note that this author is more than a tad up himself, as they say these days.

You just have to love his audacity to correct people.

-Before we go on, for my $2.50 I expect a Sydney Morning Herald reporter in the United States would know that there is no such thing as a joint sitting of Congress. There is however a joint session and there is a joint meeting. Etc., etc.

Other than his crucifixion of Nick O’Malley over such a trivial matter, his article is factually correct.

There is similarity between Obama and Chamberlain being discussed on the forums I visited. My opinion is irrelevant here though.

To James O'Neill

You say -This article is such an appalling mixture of misinformation, ignorance and bias an appalling mixture of misinformation, ignorance and bias

Clearly then Sir, you are not a believer in the truth.

To Stan1

Mahmoud Abbas IS in the 11th year of a 4 year presidency that can be verified.

Where is your verification that -This statement would be hilariously funny if Israel had not just slaughtered 2000 Palestinians in Gaza?

I find that to be hilariously funny apart from the fact you can’t kill people who don’t exist.

Wow! Some people don't see Obama as the most anti US leader ever, & the king of crony capitalism. He should be in the jailhouse, not the white house.

Now here is a difficult question for you. Is it that all dills gravitate to the left, or that the left turns it's supporters into dills. There may be some room for argument there, there is none at all in discussing Obama's disloyalty to his[?] country, or his stupidity.

. How is it every single contemporary global conflict must be assessed as if the 1930s are repeating themselves and every player in contemporary discourse must be assigned the role of hitler, chamberlain, Churchill, Stalin...

Personally, I think the USA and Israel fit the nazi germany and Facsist italy role - if indeed we intend to replay this tragic play. Let's face it, the casting has been poor of late. Surely we all remember what a hash of hitler role Saddam made. More lately, senior USA politicians and it's sqawking media have been working hard to get Putin to play Hitler and now Obama to play chamberlain, to netanyahu's churchill.

This is a shallow, village idiot, construct with entirely no relationship to reality.

The USA occupies 135 countries, it has since ww2 Bombed over 60 countries.
Irans crime is only that it has defied the USA. - as did Saddam and Gaddafi

You want to draw a historical parallel than the White invasion of the Americas has a much closer parallel with many of the same consequences for the natives of the lands targeted. I think of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran and so many our countries around the world as native americaTribes attacked by white europeans - there is the play the USA keep replaying. It knows it's role very well.

As for Netanyahu - the less said the better.

Neville Chamberlain was a strange PM, with all the resources that he had at his disposal, he appears to have had no knowledge of the preparations for war that were going on in Britain at the time that he was 'appeasing' Hitler.

One example alone is the doings of Sidney Cotton in secretly taking aerial photographs of German 'places of interest' whilst giving Senior German Officers joy flights in Germany.
Then there were all those factories in Britain secretly preparing to go onto a war footing.

Of course Churchill praised Chamberlain, Churchill knew what was going on.

In answer to YEBIGA.

I wonder where your head is at.

Firstly the USA does not occupy 135 countries. By taking your information from disreputable sources you do yourself no justice.

They are IN 130 countries. That is a whole other issue. They have 900 bases around the world.

If you think USA and Israel fit the Nazi Germany and/or Fascist role, then sorry to say, you have rocks for brains.

And how dare you, what audacity, to compare Israel to a country which slaughtered close to 13 million people, 6 million of those being Jews.? I have no words for people of your ilk. Presuming you live in this wonderful country of Australia, you should be ashamed of yourself. Australia and Israel have a long and proud history together.