In his comments before the Knesset, President Bush compared "those who believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals" to the "false hope" of "appeasers" before the Nazi advance in Europe.  Bush's remarks were seconded by John McCain  who compared would-be negotiatiors to Neville Chamberlain. 

McCain's example of someone who stood fast in his refusal to negotiate is a curious one.  McCain cited Ronald Reagan, who refused to negotiate to end the Iranian Hostage Crisis, instead insisting to bring the hostages home.  Has McCain forgotten the Iran Contra affair?  True, Reagan didn't sit down to negotatiate with the Iranians to bring the hostages home.  He tried to sell them weapons instead.  Is McCain suggesting that instead of diplomacy we should send over a few missiles? 

The absurdity doesn't end there.  As has been pointed out, McCain's comments were hypocritical given his assertion about Hamas that "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another ... but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

Moreove, according to Bush and McCain, several of the appeasers are in fact Republican foreign policy experts, including Bush's own Secretary of Defense.  Just the other day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke out in favor of engaging Iran:  "We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then sit down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too."

But it's not just Gates.  James Baker (to whom Bush might be said to owe his Presidency), head of the Iraq Study Group, favors direct talks with Iran and Syria:

“I believe in talking to your enemies,” he said in an interview on the ABC News program “This Week,” noting that he made 15 trips to Damascus, the Syrian capital, while serving Mr. Bush’s father as secretary of state.

“It’s got to be hard-nosed, it’s got to be determined,” Mr. Baker said. “You don’t give away anything, but in my view, it’s not appeasement to talk to your enemies.”

So too have Brent Scowcroft and Richard Armitage. 
 
Feel free to add names to this list.  

It seems the Republicans have a number of appeasers in their midst.