AN EXAMPLE OF APPEASEMENT: Being the world’s super power is a thankless job. It’s a good thing we don’t have a mind to pull our support from the Philippines.

Of course, if you’re an expert like Bruce Scheier, you could interpret the Filipino pull out to be a major blow to al Qaeda:

Q: Do you think the Madrid bombings, assuming they were carried out by Al Qaeda, were effective as a political tool given the surprise upset victory three days later of the Socialist Party, which wants to pull Spanish troops out of Iraq?

A: I thought the exact opposite. Al Qaeda wants escalation. When they attacked the United States, they wanted us to attack back with force because that would enrage more Arabs, which enrages more of us, and makes the conflagration worse. I'm amazed that people are saying that the victory for the antiwar people in Spain was a victory for Al Qaeda. I'm proud of Spain. They could have reacted like the U.S. and said they would use even more force. They reacted with restraint.

Someone give that expert some smelling salt!